The wrong guy
by JosieCarter
Summary: "We shouldn't be doing this" She murmured as his lips met hers, he held her waist as he gently pushed her against a wall. This time, his kiss was hungrier, full of passion. "Do you not want this?" He asked and she responded with attacking his lips and before she knew it she was crying out his name in passion.
1. Chapter 1

The wrong guy

"_We shouldn't be doing this" She murmured as his lips met hers, he held her waist as he gently pushed her against a wall. This time, his kiss was hungrier, full of passion. "Do you not want this?" He asked and she responded with attacking his lips and before she knew it she was crying out his name in passion. _

Morning afters were always the worst especially after a one night stand, there was no set rules. Do you leave before the guy wakes up? Do you have breakfast together? Do you exchange numbers despite the fact you don't intend to speak to each other, ever? That was partly one of the reasons she never had one night stands.

It was so unlike her, especially not with her former English teacher. She held the sheet to her bare chest as she looked at the ceiling. It had only been ten minutes since she had woken up and she had already regretted the night before.

Sure it had been amazing, one of the best nights if not the best she had ever had but he had been her English teacher for two years, he was her mother's college and he had been over for dinner a couple of times. He was a family friend and she had slept with him.

Her phone buzzed, her eyes widened hoping that the ringing wouldn't wake him up. She quickly got out of bed not caring about the fact that she was naked, she found her phone under a pile of clothes

"Hola, where is ya? Spence's is going cray-cray"

Aria heard Hanna's voice and rolled her eyes at her slang, she knew her well enough to know that she was probably only doing it to piss Spencer off.

"At my parent's house" She lied, believably. Her years of lying to her parents during her high school years helped her skills with the art of lying. She grabbed her bra and panties off Ezra's floor and attempted to hook her bra with only one hand before eventually giving up.

"Liar"

"What? – what makes you think that?" She stuttered

"Aria Montgomery where the hell are you? And don't you dare lie I called your parents" Spencer's voice suddenly came onto the phone.

There was no point in lying anymore; she didn't even bother to question Spencer on why she called her parents.

"I kind of spent the night with someone, I'm at his apartment. Bye" And with that she hung up, she tried to hook her bra again but failed. What was wrong with her today? She felt a hand on her back hooking her bra.

"Here" He mumbled, drowsily. She turned to face him and gulped, the plan was to just leave. Why did he have to wake up now?

"Good morning" She said, awkwardly as she sat in her bra and panties on his bed.

"Morning" He replied, a boyish smile graced his face. She returned it, they both looked at each other for a little bit before he began to speak again "About last—,"

"I don't expect anything from you Ezra; this was just a one night thing. Something we'll forget in no time, I have to go before my friends send a search party out for me" Aria attempted to joke, she looked at his face and could have sworn she saw a flash of disappointment in his eyes.

* * *

"Where were you? Spencer called me every hour asking if I've heard from you"

Emily said as she let Aria into hers and Paige's apartment, she looked at the dishevelled brunette who walked into her apartment with a crinkled dress, smudged makeup and messy hair.

"I was at someone's apartment" Aria said briefly "Do you mind if I take a shower?"

"Define someone"

"Just someone" She said as she walked towards the bathroom, ignoring her questions. Ten minutes later she stepped out of the bathroom with wet hair and a towel wrapped around her body.

"Noel someone?" Emily questioned.

Aria rolled her eyes and shook her head, she and Noel had been on and off for the last couple of months and right now they were currently off. They had a big fight; she couldn't even remember the cause of it. He still hadn't called her yet, she wondered if this time was going to be it.

"Here" She handed her a pair of jeans and a top that Aria had left over the several times she had come over.

After getting changed, she put her hair in a messy bun and applied some makeup "Want to get some coffee from the brew?"

"Sure. Now tell me someone who?"

They walked side by side towards the brew; Aria put her hands in the pockets of her jacket. As much as she wanted to tell her she couldn't— after all that was the deal with Ezra, well she hadn't let him exactly let him talk.

"Just someone" She added vaguely

Emily rolled her eyes as she entered the brew, they ordered their coffees and waited for them. She didn't nag her even more on the subject which was the reason she went to Emily's.

"So, how's helping Coach Fulton with the sharks?" Aria asked, wanting to change the subject from who she had spent the night with.

"I thought I told you Coach Fulton resigned, it's Coach Grey now. She's much younger, I think like twenty five or something and has a thing for Fitz" She said, somewhat amused.

This piped Aria's interest, for some reason she couldn't explain. The thought of Ezra being with another girl made her angry.

"What? Why?" She said a little too quickly and too aggressively.

Emily let out a little laugh "Well he's not exactly the worst looker is he? Most of the girls in rosewood are fawning over him and unless I remember incorrectly you had a thing for him too didn't you?" She teased

"God what's taking so long with the coffee?"

"Patience is a virtue" Zack added with a smile as he handed Aria a coffee "So how's your mother?" he asked with genuine curiosity.

"Good, better. Why, do you want her back?" Aria asked, teasingly. Zack and her mother were history, she was back with her father but she still held a good relationship with the man she once dated. Aria did as well, at first it was in hope for free coffee but then they became friendly acquaintances.

The two continued to talk, Emily noticed Ezra walk into the brew. She narrowed her eyes as she saw the way he looked at Aria gulping slightly.

"Hello Mr Fitz" She said, smiling. The sound of his name caused Aria to turn around and drop her coffee cup.

Eyes wide she immediately apologized despite Zack reassurance that it was fine, she looked at Ezra who was smiling at her amused. A blush made its way onto her face; the two looked at each other for a second. Memories of the night filling both of their head

"Oh my god" Emily said as she realised, Aria looked at her biting her lower lip guilty. "You and –," Before she could respond Aria quickly took her arm and rushed her away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you all for the reviews, they truly mean the world to me. With further or due let the reading commence.**

* * *

**The wrong guy**

"Don't say anything please" Aria said as she took Emily to a corner, from the corner of her eye she could still see Ezra watching them. She cringed as she thought of what he was thinking of her right now.

"Why would I say anything? It's not like you slept with a teacher, oh wait you did! What the hell were you thinking?" Emily yelled quietly, aware of the fact he was still in the coffee shop. She rolled her eyes.

"Geez Em, you sound like Spencer right now. It's not like it's ever going to happen again, it was a one off. It just happened"

Emily sighed in disbelief "You're going to tell the girls, there's no way in hell I'm keeping this secret. If they find out they'll shut me out like the whole Kahn thing"

Aria rolled her eyes again as she thought of Noel Kahn thing, it was in high school. He kissed her, she told Emily and not the girls. And they refused to talk to them for a whole day which to them had felt like a lifetime.

"I can't tell them, they'll make a big deal out of nothing. I just can't – please don't tell them, Emily. Please" She widened her eyes in an attempt to make her look more innocent.

"No. Please don't make me"

"Emily" Aria whined "Please. It was nothing plus I want to work on my relationship with Noel, you understand right."

"Fine but when they find out – oh and believe me they will; I had no part in this" Emily said, sternly

Aria nodded and hugged Emily tight "Thank you so much, I love you" She held Emily for longer "Is he gone?" she asked, not wanting to face him. Emily looked back at the counter where he once stood and nodded.

"Yep"

"Good, now let's get me another coffee"

* * *

He walked into Wren's apartment and sighed "I made a terrible mistake" He confessed as he poured himself a scotch.

"Do tell, all good stories start with 'I've made a terrible mistake'" Wren grinned as he watched Ezra gulp up all the scotch in one sip.

Ezra glared at his friend and poured himself another glass of scotch "I slept with a student" He said, sighing slightly.

"You did what? with who? You can arrested for that, you know that right"

"A former student" He clarified rolling his eyes

Wren let out a sigh of relief but he looked at Ezra again "Which former student?" He questioned, Ezra took another sip of his scotch.

"Aria Montgomery"

His voice softened when he said her name, the thought of her made him smile. He hadn't felt this way about someone in a long time and it was strange because he barely knew other than the odd dinners at her parent's house, and when he taught her at Rosewood High.

Unbeknownst to him, Wren was having a little shock as well "Spencer's friend?"

"Spencer's friend" Ezra repeated, nodding.

"How did it happen?"

"Well I went to Snookers and she was there. Soon enough we began talking about literature and authors, and an Arthur miller play. Then it just happened"

"Is it going to happen again?" He asked

"No she made that pretty clear this morning, it was a onetime thing" Ezra sighed as he thought of her words to him in the morning, part of him was conflicted. As much as the thought of being in a relationship with a former sounded difficult, he still wanted to give it a try.

"Why do you sound so upset?"

"I don't know, there's just something about her. Something I can't explain, she's so mature for someone so young. She's just –,"

"Different" Wren suggested and Ezra nodded "I know how you feel—listen to me, Ezra. If you really like this girl, let her know. Fight for her because if you don't there'll come a time when she's with someone else and it'll hurt trust me it will, it'll hurt like hell but it'll hurt even more knowing that you didn't fight for her and that you had your chance but you didn't even try"

Ezra watched Wren as he spoke, there was no way in hell he had just come up with that out of the blue but he didn't pay much attention on that. He thought about Aria, there was no way he was going to tell her. She didn't want him and as much as it hurt, he had to accept it.

* * *

She walked into her apartment sighing slightly as she leant against the door, she took deep breaths in and out thinking about her day. She had spent most of it at Emily's apartment who thankfully didn't ask any questions about the night before but she was sure her other friends weren't going to extend her the same curtsy.

The doors both opened at the same time and they came out, Spencer looked at Aria angrily and Hanna excitedly, both of them had something to say.

"What's his name? Emily filled me in on the details"

Hanna said with a smirk on her face, for one second Aria though she had spilled but since she didn't tell them the name, perhaps she was going to keep this a secret. A smile made its way onto her face.

"I can't believe you did what you did especially after what happened to Alison, I was worried sick. Aria" Spencer said, breaking Aria's heart.

Her eyes widened and she opened her arms to hug her best friend "I'm so sorry, Spence. I didn't realise. I'm sorry, I promise always to let you know when I'm not going to be home" Spencer hugged her back.

"Enough of the hugging fest" Hanna said "What's his name?" She questioned, narrowing her eyes in curiosity.

It wouldn't do any harm to tell them his name, would it? After all they knew was his last name, and god knows how many Ezra's there were in Rosewood. The last person they would suspect is him.

"Ezra" Aria said, simply and then spotted some flowers. Roses, Noel always got her roses despite them not being her favourite but regardless it was the thought that counted. She looked at the note.

_So sorry about the fight, Aria, I love you. Please call me – Noel. _

"How was it?" Spencer asked, now it was her turn to brim with curiosity "How was Ezra?"

"He was—" She blushed "He was _good_, now if you'll excuse me" She took the flowers and walked into her room with only the intention of calling Noel and forgetting about the man who she had spent the night with the night before.

* * *

**I hope you guys liked it, i'm working on weekly updates well attempting, also how amazing was the noir episode? Absolutely brilliant, one of my favourites. Don't forget to fave, follow and Review.**

**xoxo Josie**


	3. Chapter 3

**Two updates in one day, you all are lucky. I've got chapter four and five written as well so if i get like nine reviews, i shall post it immediately.**

* * *

**The wrong guy**

**(**Chapter three**)**

"I'm so sorry about what I said and what I did, saying we should break up was so stupid. Aria, I can't imagine my life without you"

Noel said as he sat on her bed, she was leaning on her dressing table. She smiled and held his hands "Yes it was but I forgive you" A cheesy grin made its way onto his face; he stood up and kissed her. His hands let go of hers and went straight onto her hips down towards her thigh, He began to lift her dress slightly.

"_Are you sure you want this?" He asked, his eyes were still full of lust but he was still concerned. She smiled and cupped his cheeks nodding "More than I've ever wanted anything in my life" She said and kissed him. _

Her eyes widened, she watched as Noel kissed her "Stop, stop. Sorry I just—," she tried to explain why but realised if she did she would spill everything.

"It's fine, Aria. I have to go, I've got a paper to write but I'll see you at dinner" He said, she narrowed her eyes in confusion

"I thought you said you were free today"

"Yeah, well I – um just remembered. I'll see you later. Can't wait to see your folks again" He kissed her forehead and left her alone in her bedroom.

As she heard the door slam shut, she threw herself onto her bed screaming into her pillow. She remembered everything; his touch, his lips, his words. She wanted him so bad, and not only physically.

It wasn't even want anymore, it felt like a need. It had been a couple of weeks since it had happened, he hadn't called or anything. He barely looked at her when he saw her on the street. The thought of him regretting what had happened hurt for some reason.

She had called Noel a couple of weeks ago, she had decided against calling him right away. She wanted him to suffer especially after breaking up with her. They talked on the phone and today she invited him over only for him to refuse her for 'homework'

If she didn't talk to anyone, she was sure to explode. She grabbed her keys off her desk and rushed into her car.

* * *

Ezra walked down the hallways of Rosewood High, his head full with a million thoughts. Most of them consisting of the beautiful brunette who laid beside him a couple of weeks ago.

_Her smile, her hair, her eyes_

Every single minute of the day he thought about her, it was becoming a problem. A problem which he used alcohol to overcome but it seemed like the days of him drinking alcohol to drown his sorrows were long behind him. Almost as if he was immune to the effect of alcohol.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't forget her.

Ella had invited him over for dinner, it wasn't unusual. He had spent several dinners in the Montgomery household, in a way Ella and Byron had become family. They treated him as if he were part of the family and he didn't mind.

After all his real family wasn't the best, they had all cut off ties with him the minute he announced that he wanted to be a teacher. They considered it to be an awful job; they couldn't possibly understand why he wanted to get a degree in something which was merely a hobby to him since a young age.

They couldn't understand why but the Montgomery's did especially Ella.

Nerves flooded him, how was he going to go to dinner without somehow revealing everything? He had betrayed them in a way hadn't he? He slept with Aria, the woman he had known since she was sixteen.

"Ezra"

A voice called interrupting him from the thoughts which would have soon led him into a downward spiral which was code for drinking himself silly.

He turned around and saw Coach Grey alongside Emily Fields walk fast down the hallway to greet him, it wasn't surprising to see Emily because she had been working part time in Rosewood High helping Coach Grey with the sharks.

"Sabrina, hey" Ezra said with a smile, he looked at Emily who was standing awkwardly trying to avoid eye contact. Curiously he wondered why but didn't any note of it "Hello Emily, how's being back at Rosewood High?"

Emily's eyes widened, almost as if she was shocked he was talking to her. "Um, it's strange. Every day I feel a freaky sense of déjà vu but I'm getting used to it" She said with a smile.

"She's great; she's really been helping the girls. I'm sure in no time she'll also be teaching here taking over my position" Sabrina said, teasingly.

Ezra nodded "So um—," She began, nervously "Any plans for the weekend?" She attempted nonchalance.

"No, well other than marking papers, I don't."

"There's this play downtown, apparently it's a hoot. I'm going to see it so I was wondering if you want to go – with me" She said, biting her lower lip.

Emily crossed her arms together feeling even more awkward than she did before, she wondered if Sabrina had forgotten she was still there.

He wondered how to get out of going, Sabrina was a great girl but she wasn't his type despite his reluctance he didn't have it in him to say no.

"Sounds great" He managed to sound cheerful "Let me know the details, I'll see you ladies later" He smiled and rushed down the hallway.

* * *

"So what's the problem?"

Ella asked as she chopped up the carrots, she looked at her daughter for a brief minute. The twenty year old was leaning against the counter next to her mother; her face was filled with uneasiness and worry.

"What makes you think there's a problem?" Aria asked, curiously.

"I'm your mother, I can tell" Ella said with a smile "Now tell me"

Aria bit her lower lip, nervously. Something she had been doing too much lately, everything made her nervous. Nervous of people finding out, nervous of her friends finding out, nervous that there will never be a moment like the one that night ever again

"There's a boy" She began "A man, really. He's a couple of years of older than me" Ella hid the thoughts going through her head. Years ago she had decided that she was going to be the type of parent that her daughter could come to her about anything.

"Noel and I had broken up, don't ask – and I slept with this _man_" Aria admitted, watching her mother awaiting a reaction.

"So did you like it?"

"Mom" She exclaimed, her eyes widened.

Ella let out a little laugh "It's a legitimate question" she said as she prepared the dinner "So what's the problem?"

"I can't stop thinking about him, every minute of the day. He's on my mind. I don't know what's wrong with me"

"There's nothing wrong with you, you're obviously still attracted to the man. Clearly this wasn't a onetime thing for you. Let him know that, if you want to be with him, tell him. If you don't, you'll regret it"

"I can't – I'm with Noel"

Before her mother could protest, the doorbell rang. Aria walked out of the kitchen and she saw her dad open the door to the man who had been haunting her dreams.

Ezra Fitz

* * *

**So as i said, seven reviews and i'll post the next chapter immediately:)**

**xoxo Josie**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello my lovelies, thank you so much for the reviews.**

* * *

Ezra stepped out of his car grabbing the bottle of scotch and flowers on the seat which were for Byron and Ella, respectively. Every time he went over to the Montgomery household for dinner, he brought these things. it had become a tradition.

Before he even knocked on the door, it was open by Byron.

"Hello Byron thanks for having me over" He said, politely as he handed him the scotch. The older man chuckled as he took the scotch.

"Nonsense, you don't need to thank me. You're practically family"

Byron responded, it was true, over the years he had become closer to the Montgomery's, Ella and Byron had become somewhat parental figures for him much to his delight, though he didn't admit it having no family he was particularly close to hurt.

The two men walked into the house, Ezra stopped when he saw Aria. She was playing nervously with her bracelet as she looked at him.

Ella called Byron for help, he rolled his eyes but he went to the kitchen regardless.

Scratching the back of his neck, like he always did when he was nervous or so she had observed over the years he had been over for dinner. A smile graced his face, a smile that made her swoon.

"You look beautiful" The words flew out of his mouth before he could even think them through but the big smile on her face proved that he hadn't said the wrong thing.

"I do?" Her voice was weak and quiet; she hadn't ever been particularly insecure. She knew she was pretty, she had been told it enough but when the words came out of his mouth they made her feel happy. He nodded, smiling.

Gaining her confidence she spoke "You don't look so bad yourself" She teased, her eyes caught his tie. "Well except for your tie"

Aria giggled as she saw his dumbfounded expression; she walked over and held his tie fixing it for him "There" she said and placed her hands on his chest without realising it.

There was barely any distance between them, in fact there wasn't any at all. They were close, extremely close. Too close for people who claimed they were just acquaintances.

Aria looked up into his eyes, his beautiful eyes which she could stare into for days. His eyes were on her lips, tempting as ever.

Her eyes closed for a second, she expected his lips to be on hers but it was the exact opposite. She could feel his breath on her face but his lips were nowhere where she wanted them to be. Opening her eyes, she saw him watch her. His eyes were full of desire but conflict.

Ezra watched her, her eyes were closed for a second and her lips puckered. He leant in, his breathing got heavier.

"Aria" He murmured, his voice shaky.

The sound of footsteps caused them to pull apart and distance themselves, her parents walked into the lounge unaware of the fact that they had just interrupted a moment.

"Sorry about that, I couldn't reach something" Ella said with a slight laugh, she saw the flowers in his hands "Are those for me? Always a gentleman" She teased surprised that he didn't make a remark in response to hers.

Ella eyed him suspiously as he looked anywhere but at her daughter "Dinner should be ready, Byron you had something you wanted to talk to him about right?" She nudged her husband and he remembered nodding immediately.

"Do you need help?" Aria asked after she saw her dad and Ezra walk off to his study, her mother nodded and she followed her to the kitchen.

"So what were we discussing?" Ella began as she finished preparing dinner, her daughter shook her head not wanting to continue with the subject they were just discussing.

"Nothing, why didn't you tell me Mr Fitz is coming?" She forced herself to say the name she was used to saying "I wouldn't have told Noel to come if you had"

"I don't see why Noel can't come maybe he and Ezra will get along"

Aria scoffed at her mother's words, it wasn't so much that she was worried whether Noel would be uncomfortable as such when he came for dinner but more so she worried about herself. What if she accidently let everything spill?

She couldn't possibly, could she? She hoped not, the last thing she needed was another issue in her relationship.

Her mind suddenly went to the moment they shared a couple of minutes ago, she had nearly kissed him. She sighed, she was an awful girlfriend but she couldn't help it whenever she was near Ezra. Something just happened; he just had a hold on her.

* * *

"New Orleans"

Ezra exclaimed with shock as he sat in Byron's study with a glass of whisky in his hands, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Byron smiled, nodding "Yes, an associate dean's position. Think about it, this will be a great opportunity for you. It will put your career five-ten years ahead of plan" He said, proud that he had recommended him for the job.

"I don't know, Byron, maybe I'm not ready for that kind of responsibility especially not right now" He said, hesitantly as he took a sip of his drink.

"You have a couple of months to decide but first you have to have some kind of experience so you could take over the position of Professor Harper, he's leaving in a couple of weeks" Byron suggested

Yes, it was a great opportunity for him but the thought of being so far away from Rosewood sounded like hell. He didn't particularly love the town but he didn't hate it either.

"Don't decide anything right now, just think about it" He said, to which Ezra nodded. He thought about the future. He had always decided that he would spend a couple years teaching and then resign to become a full time writer.

This brought him closer to doing what he wanted.

* * *

Aria heard the doorbell ring once again and this time it was Noel for sure, she opened the door and was greeted by him pulling her into a kiss. She closed her eyes and instantly imagined it was someone else, holding her and kissing her. Someone who had made her feel special with one sentence.

A cough interrupted the kiss; she pulled away and saw her father waiting alongside Ezra. Her cheeks turned a shade of red as they had been caught.

Noel, on the other hand, was totally unfazed by the fact they had been caught. He walked over with his smile taking up the half of his face. He greeted Byron by shaking his hand.

"Hello Mr Montgomery, how are you?" Noel asked, charmingly.

Byron smiled "I'm fine, Noel. You remember Ezra, right? He taught you during high school" He looked at Ezra for confirmation, who nodded.

"Yes, although I knew him as Mr Fitz"

"Please call me Ezra, Noel. Mr Fitz makes me sound older than I am" Ezra said, trying to not let the disdain he had for him roll off his tongue.

"Alright then, Ezra" And with that the group made their way to the dining table, Aria sat between Noel and Ezra. In front of her were both of her parents.

Ella began the conversation as she put food in her plate "So Ezra, what do you think about Byron's offer?"

The man moaned for a second making Byron chuckle

"He doesn't want it" Byron said, Aria's head rose with curiosity as she watched the three converse. She let out a little gasp as she felt Noel's hand on her thigh but the group seemed to take no notice

"It's not that I don't want it, it's just that I don't think I'm ready for it. I mean for the last five years I've been an English teacher."

"And now you'll be an English professor, it's a great opportunity, Ezra. Just think about it" Ella said "Plus wouldn't you like more time for your writing?" she asked in an attempt to convince him.

"Yes, I guess I would" Ezra thought about it more as he dug into his food, it was a great opportunity. Maybe he should go ahead with it instead remaining in school which he couldn't possibly get a higher position.

Byron smiled and then looked at his daughter "Aria, convince the man Hollis is a great college" He said eagerly.

She barely raised her head "Hollis is a great college" She mumbled, making the group laugh. She shuddered at the thought of him being her teacher again.

"I never understood why people want to teach" Noel added, nonchalantly.

"Noel, you do realise that you're speaking to a table full of people who are teachers, do you not?" Ella said, sounding slightly condescending.

"Yes, but still teaching just seems – I don't even know plus there's not a lot of money in it"

"Not everything is about money, Noel" Ezra said "Teaching is something special, reading and writing has always been my passion so teaching was the only job for me because I could show young people books that they never heard of and ultimately would love, I could help them uncover the talent they have for writing and help them pursue it. That's why I teach, Noel. Not because of the money but because at the end of the day, someone's life has been changed by a novella, or a play or even a haiku"

Aria smiled as she listened to how passionate he was about his job "And you are great at it, you truly are." She said, he smiled in response

Noel rolled his eyes as he heard the man's speech, no matter how much anyone tried to convince, he wouldn't listen. He was stubborn.

"And that is why I want you at Hollis"

* * *

"She carried it everywhere, Pigtunia. She called her 'her best friend' until she turned six and met Alison"

Aria cringed as her mother told the table her childhood stories, she couldn't possibly why her parents always told these type of stories whenever she brought a boy over. To her left, Ezra chuckled and to her right, Noel was somewhat uninterested.

"I don't understand why you must tell these stories every time, it's so embarrassing" Aria said, burying her head into her hands for a second.

"It isn't, it's cute" Ezra mumbled, next to her. She was the only one who could hear him, her parents had already started on another conversation with Noel.

"It beats being called Pookie bear" She admitted but then her eyes widened as she realised what she had said.

Ezra smirked "Pookie bear, huh?" He asked, to which she rolled her eyes.

"Don't, just don't" She closed her eyes in embarrassment

"How would you feel if I called you Pookie bear?" He asked, teasingly.

"I would hate it"

"Pookie bear, it is"

"Ezra" She moaned, "Don't, plus just don't" She begged, he chuckled and then she changed the subject "So you're going to Hollis?"

"I don't know, it would be a great opportunity but I'm just—,"

"Are you scared, Fitz?" She teased "Is the great Ezra Fitz?" she giggled at his scrunched up face, it was as if they had been friends for the longest time.

"No, I'm not scared. Change is inevitable and sooner or later I will leave Rosewood High. I guess I will, being a professor sounds great"

"Luckily, you won't be my professor" She said, drinking the wine she had poured herself.

"What's that supposed to mean" Ezra said, placing a hand over his heart faking pain.

"It would just be so awkward, wouldn't it?" Aria played with her hands as she thought about the night that occurred several weeks ago.

"I suppose it would"

* * *

**So did you like it? i had originally planned for something else but changed it last minute so that's why it's not as great as it could have been. Nine reviews and i'll post the next chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's chapter four:)**

* * *

"She's had a gallon of chunky monkey and Adele on replay ever since she's returned from that dinner"

Aria could hear the hushed whispers from inside her room; she rested her head on her pillow and closed her eyes. She turned the volume of her music louder to block out what Spencer was going to say in response.

She thought about him, and about how she felt towards him. She felt sick, mentally and physically. She liked him despite the fact she had a boyfriend, the fact that they couldn't pursue a relationship hurt too much to think about anything else.

Luckily it was just a Saturday so she had a whole day to mope before she had to get up and do her homework.

Outside the bedroom stood the three girls surrounding the kitchen counter as they attempted to make dinner.

Spencer looked at Hanna as she spoke, silently she pondered about what was wrong with her best friend, whilst she did that Emily stood by them knowing fairly well what the cause might be. A certain man with the credentials of E.F

The guilt and anxiety filled her, keeping secrets had never been her forte but then again neither had breaking her friend's trust, Aria had trusted her so she wouldn't tell.

"Is she pregnant?" Hanna asked out of the blue, her friends rolled their eyes.

"Why would you think that?" Spencer said as she cut up carrots.

"Because she's super hormonal, I saw her eat a hamburger when she thought we weren't looking and I got my period a week ago and she's usually before me"

"There's lots of reasons for not getting their period such as stress, change in schedules, being underweight—," Spencer tried to reason with Hanna, there was no way in hell that Aria was pregnant. It simply couldn't be.

"Being pregnant" Hanna butted in, rolling her eyes.

Emily tapped her feet impatiently; the thought of Aria being pregnant stressed her especially since the last person whom she had slept with was six years older than them and their former English teacher. She could already hear the rumours.

She murmured an excuse to her friends and left the apartment in a panic

* * *

Philadelphia had always been an escape from him whenever he had grown tired of small town Rosewood where your business was everyone's business; secrets were made to be told there. Granted he hadn't grown up there but he had spent a good amount of time there to know.

The truth was that it wasn't Rosewood he wanted escape from but from the thought of seeing her, the last time he had seen her, he had nearly kissed her. It was a mistake, she had a boyfriend

He had to tell her how he felt, that she was the only thing that mattered to him but right now he was with Sabrina, who clearly had a crush on him. He felt awful for not feeling the same way; he knew how it felt to have your feelings not be requited. It was the worst feeling in the world.

He didn't understand why he felt the way he did about a girl who couldn't care less about him, a girl who had a boyfriend, a boyfriend who didn't deserve her.

"It was brilliant, wasn't it?" Sabrina said as they walked out of the run down theatre in downtown Philly.

Despite the fact he didn't think so, he nodded. The idea of the play was barely well written and had been used several times before. Brilliant wasn't the word he would use to describe the play, perhaps watchable but not brilliant.

She slowly reached for his hand and he didn't have the guts not to hold her hand, they walked down the streets of Philadelphia hand in hand whilst discussing their plans for the future. Ezra spoke of his passion of the English language and she listened smiling.

Soon enough they had taken the subway to Rosewood, a group of girls, his students, walked passed giggling as they saw the two.

"I bet we're going to be the talk of the school" Sabrina said, whispering into his ear. He chuckled, agreeing.

Once they reached the end of her street, she stopped and looked at him. He furrowed his eyebrows in curiosity as he saw her.

Leaning in, she softly touched his face and pressed her lips against his immediately pulling apart regretting her decision "Well that was um – awful" She said and saw his shocked expression "You don't like me, do you?"

"Sabrina, it's not that I don't like you. it's just that well there's someone else, someone who I can't get and yet I am fixated over" He confessed "I'm sorry, I know you probably don't want to hear this"

She shook her head "No, it's okay. I hope we can still remain friends, Fitz" She said with a smirk and he nodded.

"Of course, Grey"

Her heart had broken when he said he didn't like her so before she broke down in front of him, she said her 'goodbyes' and left but bumped into someone.

"Emily, sorry" She said as she saw the face of the person, she looked down at the package that had fallen.

A pregnancy test

She didn't show the shock on her face as Emily grabbed it and quickly left, she shook her head and tried to think of something else.

* * *

Her door opened and in came Emily, before she could moan or stop her. She felt something fall on the bed, her eyes widened as she saw the pregnancy test.

"What the hell?" Aria muttered as she grabbed the package, she looked at Emily for an explanation. The look on the other girl's face was one of worry.

"It's for you, Hanna thinks you're pregnant. Are you?"

Aria let out a little laugh out of disbelief, how could her friends think she was pregnant? She clearly wasn't, she was nineteen years old for crying out loud.

"Well I'm not" She grabbed the test and chucked it into the bin, she got up from the bed. "I— I er I'm not pregnant, we're not so stupid to have not used protection, Em" she said rolling her eyes.

"Are you sure?" Emily asked

"Of course I'm fucking sure, I think I'd know if I was pregnant" She said as she stood by the window, she opened the curtains to let light in.

Emily didn't ask any more questions; instead she left Aria to her thoughts. She looked out of the window which had the view of an alley way. She turned around and looked at the pregnancy test in the bin for a second imaging the possibility of having his child inside her.

Scoffing slightly she thought of the odds

* * *

**So what do you guys think? how would you feel about a ezria baby? this discussion is totally on you guys, if you don't want Aria to be pregnant i'll totally scratch the idea, however if you do i'll continue with the original plot line. Let me know:)**

**xoxo Josie**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello my lovelies, thank you for all the reviews.**

* * *

The sound of the rain pouring woke Ezra up from his sleep; he raised his head from his desk and yawned. He had fallen asleep on his desk whilst marking papers once again; he got up and walked towards the shower.

Cold water fell down his bare naked body; he let out a little gasp but then began scrubbing his body clean.

"_I need you" Her voice was barely an echo, more of a whimper. She pressed her body against his and kissed his neck "Fuck me" _

He gulped as he thought of the memory; it had been more than a couple weeks since he had slept with her. Too many weeks. He needed her, ever since that more than awkward dinner at her parents' house. He regretted not kissing, screw what was right, he wanted her.

Before a shower turned into something else, he quickly got out and began getting ready for the day ahead of him.

Every little thing reminded him of her, even fixing his tie. He cursed before he grabbed a bottle of scotch, groaning slightly when he had to put it back where it belonged. He couldn't drink and teach, it just wasn't professional, the last thing he needed was to be fired from his job.

The door opened and for a second he imagined Aria walking through the door but instead it was someone much less good looking also known as Wren Kingston.

"That's it, I'm telling her how I feel even if it kills me, I love her goddamn it and it's time I tell her" Wren said, dramatically and threw his hands in the air.

Ezra rolled his eyes "What are you even talking about?" He asked as he put the papers he spent half of the night marking in his satchel.

"Spencer, of course, I'm going to tell her tonight if it kills me which it probably will. Have you seen her boyfriend? He's huge and a carpenter, holy fuck what if he hits me with his tools?" Anxiety filled through the doctor.

"You're going to tell a girl who has a boyfriend that you love her" Ezra questioned in disbelief, he brewed some coffee.

"Yes, hey how about we do it together? You tell Aria and I'll tell Spencer, it'll be great."

"I don't love Aria" He said, pouring him some coffee and chuckling at Wren's idea. He couldn't believe the man, he was obviously going crazy.

"Yeah sure" Wren plopped himself on the couch "Do you think it's a good idea?"

"I don't know, I honestly can't think straight. I only had three hours of sleep last night; ask me in a couple of hours"

* * *

Aria sat in her literature class as the professor assigned a read assignment to a book she had already read, she played with her pen lid and closed her eyes briefly for a second. She imagined him being next to her and kissing her, holding her.

When she opened her eyes, the class was empty. Had she fallen asleep? It wasn't all that surprising; after all she had spent most of the night thinking about him and how easy it was to talk to him. She then thought of Noel and the fight they had during the drive after dinner.

"_You were flirting with him" Noel said, angrily "In front of me, do you understand how that made me feel? Like a piece of shit. I can't believe you" _

"_I was not flirting, I was being friendly. Something you do not know the meaning of, he's a friend. He doesn't see girls the way you do, he doesn't see them as just things to get, sleep with and throw away once you get bored." _

"_What's that supposed to mean?" _

"_You know what it means Noel; you think I don't know why we break up so often?" She scoffed "It's because you want to sleep with someone else and not feel guilty about it." _

She grabbed her books and rushed out of the class, she didn't have any more classes at the moment but she didn't want to go home instead she went to the dormitory.

Knocking on the door, a huge smile graced her face as she saw Rebecca.

"Hey"

She said and was immediately engulfed into a hug that made her she giggled. She hugged the girl, whom she once was roommates with, back.

"I missed you so much, Ar." Rebecca said, and then let go of her, inviting her into her small dorm room "So how's the apartment you ditched me for" She asked, teasingly.

"It's great, much better than this shit hole" Aria said, with a giggle, she watched as Rebecca threw herself on the bed and laid sideways on the bed.

Aria sat on the bed "So how's Rick?" she asked, curious about how Rebecca's current relationship with Rick.

"Rick's a dick, we broke up, and I'm seeing Jacob now. He's Jewish so mama is ecstatic oh and Professor Harper is leaving. I loved that guy; he actually taught me stuff now he's just going to leave. Wonder why I have abandonment issues." She said, quickly.

"Geez that escalated fast, don't worry about Harper leaving. You're going to get a younger, cuter and sweeter teacher" Aria said, dreamily.

Rebecca narrowed her eyes "Younger, cuter and sweeter. Does someone have a crush?" She said, smirking.

"Nope, I'm with Noel, remember?"

"Just because you're with someone doesn't mean you can't have a crush, I have crushes all the time and I love Jake." She said "And Noel, seriously, I hate that guy"

Aria rolled her eyes "Clearly, I don't because I'm still with him" She said, matter of factly.

"Why won't you break up with him?"

"Because" She began "I love him, I do. We've been together since high school, three whole years. That's a really long time plus the way he's acting right now. It's just a phase, every boy's like that during their college years. He'll change, I know he will"

"That's what my mom thought about my asshole of a father but guess what he never did, people like Noel don't change"

Rebecca said and Aria sat on the bed opposite her knowing it was true but that she was too weak to do anything about it.

* * *

Wren Kingston sat in the apartment of the three girls; he had been let in by a suspicious looking Hanna a couple of minutes ago, maybe ten? Twelve?

He sat all alone looking at the sitting room of the apartment, it was uniquely designed. It was girly, elegant and amazingly weird all at the same time. He wondered if it was all of their girls personalities put together. The door opened and he sat upright hoping it was Spencer but sighed disappointed when he saw Aria and Caleb, arguing.

"I'm just saying I thought Rose was a tad bit needy" He said as he walked in alongside her.

Her expression was one of betrayal "How could you say that? Rose is in no way needy, she was brilliant. She made the doctor better; she came from practically nothing and helped save the world on several occasions, she was just a freaking shop assistant and she helped save the freaking world" She said, defensively.

"I thought Donna was your favourite companion" Caleb questioned

It's actually a tie between the two but that doesn't mean you can call Rose needy" A cough interrupted their conversation.

Aria furrowed her eyebrows in confusion "Wren? What are you doing here?" She asked curiously.

"Um waiting for Spencer" He said.

Hanna rushed out of her room in a dress and heels, she quickly murmured a bye to Aria and Wren before rushing out of the apartment with Caleb by her side.

"Hanna promised her dad she would have dinner with him but Caleb and her are going to this party which is going to be_ brilliant_" She mimicked Hanna's voice as she explained the reason for Hanna rushing out so rudely "She also has a project due tomorrow so she has a time limit for everything today"

Wren chuckled, he watched Aria as she brewed coffee. He understood why Ezra liked her, she was funny, smart and not exactly a bad looker.

"Do you want coffee?" She asked to which he shook his head, she sat in front of her and looked at her coffee. "I'm wondering, just curious of course. Say if you were pregnant, would coffee be bad for you?"

"Depends on how much you drink, a small cup would be fine" Wren responded, the door opened once more and this time it was Spencer.

"Spencer, hey, I'm going to my parents tonight. I'll see you both later" And with that she left Wren and Spencer all alone.

* * *

Aria walked into the drug store, nerves filling her as she looked through the shelves. Who knew finding a pregnancy test would be so hard?

From the corner of her eye, she could see a woman eyeing her curiously. She looked familiar. Nervously she just grabbed tampons and paid for them whilst mentally berating herself for being a coward.

She walked down the roads of Rosewood, thinking and wondering if it were possible. Surely he used a condom but she wasn't sure.

Across the road from where she was walking was his apartment, she sighed and walked over looking at the buzzer. She pressed his name.

"Hello?" She heard his voice speak

"Ezra, it's me. We er – we need to talk"

* * *

**Hello guys chapter six is done, i just want to thank you for all your honest reviews and let you know the idea of Aria being pregnant has been scratched, completely and utterly. I want to thank you because you guys made me realise that i was basically looking for the easy way out and there's no way in hell i want to make this a cheesy ezria story. I want to make it one that's readable at least, that's basically it. Nine reviews and you'll get the next chapter as usual:) **

**xoxo Josie**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Aria was seated on Ezra's couch; she fumbled with her hands unaware on how she should begin this subject. She looked around his apartment, the last time she was here she had left in such a panic that she barely looked at it.

Pictures of old movies he had watched were on the wall, books were on desks because there was no space in the huge book shelf, memorabilia from places he had visited were scattered all over the apartment. it was perfect.

"Would you like something to drink? I've got apple juice" He said, awkwardly and she smiled.

"No, I need to talk to you." Aria began, he was blissfully ignorant and she was going to ruin that. She sighed and spoke once again "um that night when we er yeah, did you use protection?" She asked quickly.

His eyes widened "I don't know" He responded "Wait why?" He said even though he had a fairly good idea and for the first time in his life, he wished he was wrong.

"I haven't gotten my period yet, I'm usually on the 10th every month but it's the 23rd now" She admitted, embarrassed

"There are reasons for that right?" Ezra said quickly "Like um stress and stuff" he tried to think of logical reasons

"Pregnancy is also one of them" She said, sighing as she buried her head into her hands. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of the possibility of her being pregnant "What if I am? What are we going to do? I'm only nineteen; I haven't even finished college yet. I'm barely legal to drink, how am I going to raise a kid? My parents will disown me, my dad will_ kill_ you"

Ezra sighed as he saw the sight of the sobbing Aria, his heart broke. He used his thumb to raise her chin; he wiped her tears and held both of her hands.

"Listen to me, Aria. No matter what happens, we'll get through it together. If you're pregnant, I'm not going to leave your side. Your parents love you, they will never disown. Don't even think that they would. You're going to finish college whether you're pregnant or not, I'll support you fully no matter what happens."

She smiled through her tears; she untangled her hands from Ezra's and wrapped his arms around his neck hugging him. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Ezra. Thank you for being such a decent guy" Aria said, honestly.

"It comes naturally" He said, attempting to cheer her up "Now we need to get you a test" He said as he stood up.

Aria sighed "I can't go to the store; the woman behind the counter's one of the biggest gossips in Rosewood. She'll tell everyone before even we have a chance"

"I'll go, don't worry about it. She doesn't know me." Ezra grabbed his jacket and wallet "Get some rest while I'm gone, it's late" he said and with that he left the apartment.

She sat alone in the empty apartment immediately regretting her decision to come, she shouldn't have bothered him but he was the only person she wanted to turn to. Yes, her friends were there but she couldn't tell them without spilling everything and poor Emily already had a lot to hide because of her.

* * *

Ezra walked down the street, he reached into his pocket and realised that he had forgotten his keys. Groaning slightly he pushed himself to walk on, it was late. Maybe around ten or eleven, the streets were empty with the odd teenager walking about and dark.

He wondered how Aria was doing at the apartment, it was all his fault after all he was the older one, he should have been more careful. God knows how many speeches he had to give on safe sex during his career at Rosewood High during assemblies and here he was having not abided by what he taught.

Nineteen years old. She was nineteen years old. He had possibly ruined her life.

Byron was going to kill him for sure; Ella would never speak to him again. She had her whole life ahead of her, she was only in her second year of college and he had gotten her pregnant.

* * *

She walked around the apartment, trying to think of anything but the fact that she might have a living being inside her, she imagined Ezra in the apartment which she had already fallen in love. She looked in awe at his collection of books.

He had everything from Agatha Christie to Steinbeck. She, for sure, was going to steal some of them. It wasn't like he would notice.

Drowsily, she yawned. She was unable to remember the last time she had a good sleep in the past couple of weeks. The bed across the room tempted her; maybe a little nap wouldn't be so bad, after all she was just going to rest her eyes for a little while.

* * *

The store was empty, thankfully. From the corner of his eye, he could see the woman whom Aria was talking about watch him. He knew her; two of her daughters were in his classes. One of them had been in Aria's class as well no wonder Aria was so nervous.

He searched the aisles, looking for a pregnancy test. There were so many, he wondered which one was the best one.

_Clear blue, First response, Fact plus._

They seemed like the best, he picked one of each up. He turned around and saw the blonde whom he, only a couple of days ago, had been on a date with.

What were the odds?

His hope for her not to recognize her was shattered when he saw her smile brightly at him, she was holding a box of pads.

"Hello Ezra" Sabrina said "What are you—," She said and then saw the pregnancy tests in his hands "Oh I see" a glimpse of hurt showed in her eyes just for a second.

"They're not for me" He said, quickly

She rolled her eyes "I know it's not for you, obviously. Who'd you get pregnant?" She asked, bluntly trying not to show that her heart was breaking on the inside.

Ezra sighed "You don't know her" He mumbled regretting how harshly he spoke

"Okay then, I guess I'll see you tomorrow" Sabrina said and walked away, Ezra watched her sighing once more knowing he had hurt her.

* * *

Aria woke up minutes after she had decided to nap, she couldn't possibly sleep when her life was going to possibly change forever. She sat up on the bed and her legs fell down the bed, she kicked her legs, they didn't reach the ground.

The rain droplets on the window sent a pang of guilt through her; he was out in the rain. She hoped he wasn't getting too wet; she stood up and walked over to the window standing next to it. Unlike the majority of her friends, she loved rain.

Noel also hated it; he hated the rain because it ruined his hair. She used to tease him about how he cared more about his hair than she actually did.

Wrapping her arms around her chest, she thought about Noel. There was no way in hell this relationship was going to work if she was pregnant especially with Ezra's kid, it barely worked right now.

No matter how difficult Noel was, he didn't deserve this so she decided she was going to break up with him for his benefit. She couldn't keep romanticizing how her relationship could be, it hurt too much realizing it would never be that way.

The door opening interrupted her from her thoughts, Ezra walked in, drenched. His hair was wet and his shirt clung to his chest, she bit her lower lip and walked towards him.

"Thank you" Aria said "I'm worry for dragging you into this, I could have done this myself but I guess I was too scared" She admitted honestly.

"I'm glad you came to me, if you had to go through this all by yourself. I would never forgive myself" He said and she took the bag off him, she looked in and saw four tests.

"I got four just in case" He explained

Aria let out a little laugh and walked towards the bathroom, she closed the door in Ezra's face. He chuckled and leaned against the door.

"You know what to do right" He asked, with his back to the door.

"Yes, I know what to do. I pee on a stick, that's it" She said as she rolled her eyes, she could see his feet from underneath the door "Ezra?"

"Yep" He replied, absentmindedly.

"Can you um – I can't pee with you standing there" She said, biting her lower lip. He moved away and she did what she had to do; she peed on the stick. All four on them. she placed them on the counter

She opened the door after washing her hands, Ezra stepped it looking extremely nervous. He stood beside her and they both watched the pregnancy test.

_Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock._

All of a sudden the clock sounded louder, they both watched it anxiously knowing that the result could possibly change their lives. Time always went slowly when you waited for something and so was the case right now, ten seconds left.

"It's time" Ezra said, Aria nodded nervously. She reached forward and grabbed one of them, she closed her eyes and opened them.

One line.

A smile graced her face, a smile of relief.

"I'm not pregnant" She said, and then looked at the other tests. "I'm not pregnant" She repeated and giggled.

She jumped into his arms immediately embracing him; she chucked the stick on the floor "I'm not pregnant"

He chuckled, sighing with relief "Thank god, if you were. Byron would definitely kill me" He held her waist.

"That's true" She said, still hugging him.

"I don't think anyone's been so happy to get a negative result"

Aria finally let go off him and leaned against the counter where the tap was, nodding "Me too, I should probably chuck these test away"

He nodded "Um I'll be outside if you need me" he said, leaving her to compose herself for a second.

She grabbed the tests and chucked them into the bin next to the toilet; she washed her hands with soap and then looked at herself in the mirror before smiling.

It wasn't as if she never wanted children, she just didn't want them right now. _Am I a terrible person for being so happy that I'm not pregnant? _She thought and shrugged the thought out of her head not wanting to go to that place.

Stepping outside of the toilet, she saw Ezra pour himself what seemed to be scotch "I'll have a glass too" She said, he chuckled and looked at her shaking his head "Hey, I'm legal" He sent her a pointed look "In England" She mumbled

The rain hit against the window, she shuddered at the thought of walking home in this weather.

"I should go" Aria said, Ezra looked out of the window.

"In this weather? You'll be drenched" He said.

"Yeah but I have to go home, where else am I going to sleep?"

"Here, just stay the night. I don't want you to get sick." He saw her expression "I can sleep on the couch while you sleep on the bed"

"Are you sure? Ezra, I don't want to burden you especially after what happened tonight. I shouldn't have hassled you"

"Aria" He began "It's fine, honestly"

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Aria was on Ezra's bed wearing the shirt he had given her. It smelled like him, she smiled as she thought of how her friends would react if they could see her right now.

She turned and saw Ezra tossing and turning on the couch, she instantly felt guilty. She had ruined his evening and now he couldn't even sleep.

"Ezra" She had spoken his name before she even knew it

"Hmm" He said, drowsily.

"Just come to bed" Aria said, her eyes widened as she realised how it sounded "I mean there's enough space for both of us, I'll put a pillow in the middle. You're obviously not getting any sleep on the couch"

It didn't take any more convincing; within seconds Ezra had gotten off the couch and made his way on the bed.

They laid side by side, in the middle was the pillow and they slept that night more peacefully than both of them had the past month partly because of the proximity of the other and because they had had a stressful evening.

Safe to say the pillow was gone by morning.

* * *

**So Aria's not preggers! yay yay, i just want to let you that i won't get able to update as regularly as i will for the week after well the next week because school's starting and GCSE's are a big pain in the arse. I'll probably spend of my time worried about whether i'm going to past or not but i'll try to update weekly:) **

**xoxo Josie**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Ezra woke up the next morning next to Aria, who was curled up next to him, she didn't even realise that she was resting her head on his chest. He smiled softly at the sleeping woman, she was so at peace. He didn't have it in him to wake her.

Slowly, he climbed out of bed and placed the blanket that had fallen off back on her petite body, he looked at the clock. It was only 06:00. For the first time, he woke up naturally and wasn't rudely awoken by the dreadful noise of his alarm clock.

The rain from the night before had stopped, thankfully. It wasn't as though he hated rain; he just didn't particularly like it. He turned on his coffee machine and poured himself some coffee, drinking it all up in two huge gulps.

After the stressful events of the night before, he needed something to give him a boost. He sighed with relief as he thought of how differently last night could have ended; it was strange because he wanted children. At twenty-five years old he even thought he was ready for it but he wanted to be in love and in a committed relationship before it happened.

Aria stirred in her sleep, mumbling something unintelligible. The thought of her being in his bed and having slept next to him the night before made him smile, the thought of her in general made him happy. She was so strong and intelligent.

He couldn't imagine how she dealt with her best friend dying during her sophomore year, moving to an entirely new place during her junior year and having a psycho stalker after her during her senior year. High school was supposed one of the easiest and happiest times in a person's which certainly wasn't the case for her.

Snapping all thoughts of her out of his head, he put his cup into the sink and walked towards the shower.

* * *

_His lips were on hers; his hands were pulling her closer and closer. She had never been held like this. "You're so beautiful" He kissed her neck finding her sweet spot "Ezra" She mumbled._

The sound of the shower awoke her from her dream; she sat up wide-eyed and red-faced, Thankfully he wasn't around. she had,much to her friends amusement, an awful case of talking in her sleep. She inhaled and exhaled to calm herself.

Getting out of bed, she walked over to the sink and splashed some cold water on her face. She grabbed a cup and poured herself some coffee.

He was next to her the night before, they were so close together. It felt good, it felt right. She hadn't slept so well in a long time but it could never happen, she couldn't imagine what questions would be raised if they happened. The rumours were already bad enough.

Before she knew it, the sound of water dripping from the shower grew quieter and Ezra walked out with only a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was dripping with water which fell down to his chest, she bit her lower lip. This certainly didn't help with the dreams.

"Are you trying to seduce me?" Aria asked, with a teasing glint in her eyes. Ezra turned around, shocked to see that she was up.

"Maybe" He retorted "You're up early" He said as he reached into his drawer grabbing boxers and a T-Shirt.

She nodded, not wanting to tell him the reason for why she had woken up so early "Yep, I'm an early riser" She lied "Is it okay if I quickly hop into the shower?" she asked to which he nodded

Moments later she stepped out of the shower and threw on her clothes, she grabbed a packaged tooth-brush from the cabinet and her makeup bag which was in her bag. Within minutes she was presentable; she stepped out and saw Ezra holding papers looking frustrated.

"It's like they haven't even read the material" He mumbled to no one in particular "Like they don't even care"

Aria smiled and took the seat next to him on the couch "Breathe Ezra, give them a break. You never know what they're going through at home"

He nodded, sighing. Her phone buzzed and she looked around for it , he passed it to her ignoring her curious look.

"I found it on the couch" He mumbled.

_Spencer. _

"shit" Aria muttered, biting her lower lip nervously wondering whether Spencer had found out that she wasn't at her parents' house "It's Spencer, can you answer? – actually no." She coughed, Ezra chuckled amused.

"Hey Spence" She said, trying to act calm.

"_Aria" _Spencer's voice was cracking; it was as if she were crying. "_Can you come home? I really need someone to talk to, Toby broke up with me"_

Her eyes widened "What? Why? Don't worry I'll be there soon " she said and hung up "I have to go"

"Now?" He asked, quickly "I'll walk you down, I need some fresh air after all these essays" She nodded and grabbed her jacket.

They walked side by side into the elevator "So what happened?" He asked, curious.

"Um Toby and Spencer broke up" Aria said, after a couple of seconds. She still couldn't believe it, Spencer and Toby were always the power couple. They didn't have stupid break ups like she did with Noel. She watched his expression fall.

"Why do you look like you know something" She asked, narrowing her eyes.

Ezra clenched his jaw for a second and then spoke "Because Wren said he was going to go over to tell Spencer he still loved her"

She let out a little gasp "What? He still loves her, Jesus it's been what? four years, how is he still in love with her? Why didn't you stop him?"

He looked at her; he couldn't exactly tell her it was because he was drowning in thoughts of her when it had happened.

The elevator doors opened and they both stepped out

"Ezra" She began "I just want to thank you for all you did last night, no other guy would have acted the way you did, you really are a great guy. I'm so sorry for bothering you"

"I did what any man would, no girl deserves to be left alone if she's going through something like that" He stepped out of his apartment building.

"Thank you" She said and threw her arms around Ezra, tiptoeing and hugged him. He held her waist and murmured something. They both stayed in that position both of them not wanting to let go for a while unaware of the attention they were sparking.

Ella rushed out of the brew with her coffees in her hand, the coffee machine had broken and she took this as an opportunity to catch up with Zack, she was on the phone with Byron when she saw them. Her eyes widened. She saw Aria pull away and smile at Ezra who responded with the same reaction. They talked briefly before walking their separate ways.

It couldn't be, surely the man who Aria was talking about wasn't Ezra? Was it?

* * *

"Hey Honey, are you okay?"

Aria asked as she peeked into Spencer's room only to a bunch of tissues and chocolate on the bed, Spencer was leaning against the head-board with her knees up to her chest and her eyes red and puffy. She walked in and sat next to her best friend smiling sympathetically

"No, Toby broke up with me, Aria. I'm never going to be okay" She mumbled, her voice breaking. Aria's heart instantly hurt at the sound of Spencer sounding so down, she had always been the one who was strong and fixing things not the one who was broken.

"What happened?" She asked, still confused as to why Toby would break up with her best friend when he clearly thought the world of her.

"You know Wren came over yesterday, well he told me he loves me. We talked and I explained clearly that I didn't have the same feelings for him but then Toby came along and saw Wren kiss me on the cheek. He thought something else of, they both ended up fighting. Toby hit Wren" She said, her eyes widened "Wren had to leave and I yelled at Toby, we both exchanged some words I don't want to remember and he said he was done"

Spencer rested her head on Aria's shoulder "You guys are never going to be over, you both are madly in love. You both are soul mates and nothing, even a few words you guys didn't mean to say, will change that. Give it some time"

"Thank you, Aria, I love you" She said.

"I love you too" Aria said in response and watched the Nicholas Sparks movie Spencer had on.

She sniffled and grabbed some more tissues before sitting up straight and looking at her best friend who was looking straight ahead at the television.

"Where were you last night?" Spencer asked.

Aria thought of all the possible excuses she could use but decided against it, she had enough of lying to her friends. It hurt too much.

"At Ezra's" She mumbled and grabbed some popcorn "Urgh salt, I prefer sweet" She said as the flavour of the sweet popcorn stayed in her mouth refusing to leave.

"You're still with Noel, aren't you?" She asked as curiosity filled her.

She nodded "Yes, I am. I kind of had a pregnancy scare, and I went to his apartment. He got me a couple tests and it turns out I'm not pregnant" she revealed much to Spencer's shock.

"What the hell? Aria, if you thought you were pregnant, Why didn't you tell us, instead of going to a guy's apartment who you barely know?"

Aria shrugged "I don't know barely know him, I've known him for years, we all have. There's just something about him, he's a really good guy. He helped me a lot last night; I just wish I could pursue a relationship with him without everyone judging me"

"You're not in love with Noel anymore, are you?" Spencer asked, to which Aria remained silent. Admitting it would just hurt more.

"Okay, the first thing you need to do is break up with Noel. We don't like him anyway; secondly you need to tell this guy how you feel about him. Who cares what people think? People in this town live for gossip; we can't do anything about that. And thirdly, you need to help me with Toby"

"I can't say anything about the first two but I'm definitely helping you with Toby, I'm going to whoop his ass for breaking up with you"

Spencer laughed "You did not just say that"

"I did but I kind of regret it now" Aria said as she shuddered.

* * *

"Sabrina, wait"

Ezra's voice echoed as he ran down the hall to catch up with the swimming coach, she groaned and stopped. She turned to face, clearly not in the mood to talk. He smiled but she didn't return it.

"You know, Ezra that when a girl ignores your calls and crosses the road when you're both going towards the same directions, it's a sign that she doesn't want to talk to you" She said, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry about last night, i was rude. I shouldn't have spoke to you the way i did" He said "I really am sorry" He smiled apologetically, no girl could refuse him with the look he had on his face.

Sabrina sighed "I forgive you, not for free though, you're driving me home all week." Ezra chuckled at her statement.

"It's a deal"

* * *

**I hope you guys enjoyed reading that, i've noticed that the reviews for my last chapter were drastically lower than the ones for the my other chapters. I hope it's because it's a week day and most of you guys have things to do other and NOT that you've realised my writing sucks, haha. So in order to compensate, i added lots of Ezria stuff and Aria having a sex dream about the one and only ... ;)**

**nine reviews as usual **

**xoxo Josie**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

Quietly she walked through Hollis College alongside Rebecca who was telling her about the latest thing that had happened between Jacob and her, Aria nodded although she wasn't paying attention to a word her friend was saying.

It wasn't as if she wasn't interested but her mind was just preoccupied by events that occurred both tonight and the night before. She wondered how it would be when he came over to Hollis; she would see him every day and they could talk. Suddenly the idea of him coming over to Hollis didn't seem as nerve wracking as it had seemed before.

In fact she wished he would come, he just seemed so nervous about the idea. Suddenly Noel came to mind and guilt rushed through her once again.

"And then he bought me roses" Rebecca said, dreamily, she looked at Aria who would let out a 'hmm' every now and then, it was obvious she wasn't listening "He bought me a diamond ring, in fact it was an engagement ring. We're getting married, and I'm pregnant with quintuplets. I'm also dropping out of college to become a good Jewish house wife"

"That's nice" Aria mumbled, her mind preoccupied, Rebecca tapped her on the shoulder when that didn't work, she screamed in her ear because of which the students sent her a dirty look "Jesus, are you trying to kill me?"

Rebecca let out a laugh "Nope, I'm trying to get you to listen. What's on your mind, kiddo?" she questioned, curiously.

"Is it possible to be in love with one guy and like another one at the same time?" She asked to which Rebecca shook her head.

"Nope" She said popping the 'P' "You're probably not in love with the guy you think you're in love with because if you were in love with the guy you think you're in love with, you would not be liking this other guy because you're in love with the guy you think you're in love with."

She rolled her eyes "Can I get a summary please?"

Rebecca sighed "You are not in love because you like someone else now tell Noel to piss the fuck off and leave you alone because you, my dear are gorgeous, intelligent and funny whereas he is _Noel_."

"Nice to know I'm dating a brand name" she said, sadly as Rebecca interlocked arms with her. "I love Noel, I know I do. It's just there's this guy –"

"A guy, huh? Do tell. Is he pretty?" Rebecca asked, teasingly.

Aria rolled her eyes in amusement "Yep"

"Smart?"

"Extremely"

"Tall?"

"Very"

"Good taste in music?"

"Yes" Aria remembered the time they had a discussion about The Fray.

"Stable job?"

"Yep"

"Then why aren't you in this guy's bed, please for the love of god dump Noel's sorry ass and screw this guy. Poke a hole in the condom so he'll won't be able to leave you" Rebecca said, loudly earning some looks from students.

Jacob walked down the hall and grabbed Rebecca's waist kissing her "Hello gorgeous" He said and she giggled. Aria watched still in shock over what Rebecca said which she was pretty sure the whole of Hollis had heard, her face was slightly red.

"So who's condom are we poking a hole in" Jacob asked, he too had joined them on their little walk down the campus.

"No one's" Aria muttered, still embarrassed.

"Aria's mystery guy, the one who she's madly and irrevocably in love with" Rebecca responded dramatically towards her boyfriend's question.

"I'm not in love with him"

"She totally is"

Jacob furrowed his eyebrows in confusion "Aren't you dating that Noel guy? The one who's kind of a douche" He asked to which Aria nodded

"He's not a douche, he's just misunderstood" Aria said, cringing at her words.

The two laughed "I can't believe you just said that" Jacob added whilst laughing.

"Honey, Kurt Cobain was misunderstood, River Phoenix was misunderstood" She searched for more examples.

"Lennon, Einstein, Hendrix" Jacob added to which Rebecca smiled cheerily and kissed him falling in love with him more every second.

"Thank you, honey. Like I said, those people were misunderstood. Noel's just a douche, end off" Rebecca added, pleased with her statement

Aria sighed in defeat; she held her books to her chest. Her eyes widened when she saw Ezra, a smile formed on her face and she walked faster towards him.

"Ezra" She said, he smiled that boyish that she could swear was after her heart.

"Aria" He said in response, they both laughed slightly

"So what brings you to Hollis?" She asked, curiously. He scratched the back of his head, nervously before responding.

"I've got an interview with the head of English" He said

"With my dad? Can't he just give you the job? He knows you're up to it" Aria asked, a smile pressed firmly on her face.

"Apparently not" He chuckled in response

Rebecca and Jacob caught up to her hand in hand "Jesus Aria I haven't seen you walk that fast even when Macy's had a sale, who's this. Introduce us"

"Yeah of course, this is Ezra Fitz and these are my friends, Jacob and Rebecca" She said.

"Is this poke-a-hole-in-the-condom guy" Jacob said, Aria's eyes widened, she looked at him mortified.

"What?" Ezra asked, shocked. His mouth in an 'O' position.

Inhaling and exhaling, she tried not to strangle Jacob. Rebecca eyed him up and down, ticking off all the things Aria had told her about the mystery guy.

"What's your job?" She asked, bluntly.

"I'm actually applying here as a replacement for Professor Harper" He said, still somewhat shocked about what Jacob had said.

"Nope this is young, sweet and cute"

Ezra looked at Aria who looked mortified "Kill me now" she muttered.

"Unless this is also condom guy in which case, Aria, you –" Rebecca said and was interrupted by Jacob pulling her away much to Aria's relief.

"I'm so sorry; they're not actually my friends. I was kidding about that bit, in fact they're complete strangers and I have no idea why I introduced them to you" Aria said, in an attempt to explain everything.

"It's fine although I've never been more confused in my life, you're going to have to explain a lot later. Do you have class?" He asked to which she shook her head

"Not for another thirty minutes no" She said

"Do you mind showing me to where Byron's office is, I'm afraid I've forgotten" He said, sheepishly. She giggled and guided him to the Hollis building.

"So 'It's happening one night' is playing at the theatre" Ezra mentioned nonchalantly knowing how much she liked the movie.

"Are you serious?" She asked, giddily "Are you going to see it?" He nodded "Maybe I can come with you"

He smiled as they walked through the halls "Maybe you can" He repeated, he saw Byron walk towards him and Aria.

"Hey Ezra, Aria" The older man smiled at the two "Are you ready for your interview?" He asked to which the teacher nervously nodded.

"I'm sure you'll do great but best of luck anyways" Aria said "I'll you at the theatre" She added as she walked away.

The two exchanged a knowing smile and Byron stood confused.

* * *

**Well i hope you guys liked it, let me know if you want more of Rebecca and Jacob or even if you don't although i love writing for them but i understand completely if you guys don't want to me to involve them. Also 4x20, can we please talk about that? it was so brilliant and tragically sad, Ezra cried. he freaking cried which made me cry, also am i the only one who thought Aria looked even more beautiful than she usually does in this episode? i cannot wait for the next episode which will probably be hell but then which episode isn't?**

**Nine reviews and you'll **

**get your update**

**xoxo Josie**


	10. Chapter 10

Ezra walked into Rosewood High about twenty minutes after his interview, he walked down the halls which were full with teenagers since it was lunch. He had lunch duty today which basically meant that he would have to eat lunch in the canteen and make sure no fights came about which being in a school full of hormonal teenagers was extremely likely.

He walked over to the table on which were most of the faculty who were also on 'lunch duty' he took a seat opposite Ella and beside Sabrina.

"How did it go?" Sabrina asked as she took a bite of her apple, she looked at him and he responded very vaguely "Well I'm sure you charmed the pants off them." She said, making him and Ella laugh.

"I'm sure you did exactly that" Ella said, smiling forcefully unable to get the thought of her daughter hugging _Mr Fitz_ out of her head.

She had to know what was going on and she knew exactly how to do it, it wasn't that she didn't like Ezra. She felt very maternally about him and had grown to love him and eventually came to fill up the spot that his mother had left empty but she just couldn't pretend like she was happy over whatever was going on between the two.

"So have you seen Aria recently?" She asked, curious to see what his answer would be. He cleared his throat and put down the bottle of water he was holding.

"Yes, I saw her today. She showed where Byron's office was" He replied, vaguely and gulped more water nervously. It was obvious he was hiding something, over the several years she had discovered things about him only a mother would know such as what he did when he was lying.

"Is that it?" Ella questioned, she wanted to scoff and tell him she knew he was lying but she didn't instead she asked more questions, he nodded "It's just I'm worried about her" She said without being asked.

"When I saw her, last Friday at dinner, she was telling me about this man – who's obviously a bit older" She saw Ezra sit up straighter and loosen his tie clearing his throat "And despite how mature Aria is, she's still young. She's turning twenty in a couple of weeks and she's got so much ahead of her, I don't want this man to take advantage of her or tie her down."

Ezra nodded, his heart beating faster and faster every second, luckily for him Ella didn't say anything else but Sabrina did.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about, Ella, when I was her age I went out with older men to feel secure and more sophisticated" She said with a giggle "The only reason she's doing this is because, well, have you seen college boys?"

"I guess so, I just hope this man, whoever he is, doesn't hurt my little girl or he'll have hell to pay for I don't care who he is" Ella said, looking straight at Ezra who was feeling more hopeless and trapped then ever

* * *

"I hate you"

Aria muttered as she walked side by side with Rebecca who simply laughed, they walked down towards her apartment. They didn't have any more classes for the day, well Aria didn't, and Rebecca didn't want to attend anymore.

"Breathe, Aria, it was just a joke" She said as she walked into the apartment building alongside Aria who was a couple of steps ahead of her "Plus he barely understood what we were talking about, I have to ask you a question"

She stared at the elevator sign, it was broken as usual. Why was nothing ever in her favour? She jogged up the stairs quickly wanting to get the excruciating exercise over and one with.

"Was _he_ condom guy? I mean he checked off everything you said about the guy you were madly and irrevocably in love with" Rebecca questioned.

She wondered whether to tell her or not, she eventually decided against it. She would rather not have Rebecca tease when she saw him then feel a moment of relief because of the weight lifted. She turned the key and stepped into the apartment.

"He isn't, Rebecca, he's my high school teacher and a family friend. That's all" Aria said and gasped at the sight in front of her, Toby and Spencer making out on the couch only in their underwear. Rebecca made a whistling sound.

Toby immediately pulled away "Sorry" He mumbled and before he could do anything, he was pulled into the room by Spencer. Aria sighed, rolling her eyes; she stepped over the clothing and entered her room thankful that it wasn't next to Spencer's. Deep inside she was glad Toby and Spencer had _made up _although she would have been happier if they hadn't been making up on the couch.

"You know what you should do, you should get some like your friend is very wisely doing next door" Rebecca said, Aria rolled her eyes. Rebecca's life motto was that sex made everything better, which she honestly doubted. She always felt like such a prude next to her, ever since High school she had always been so reserved when it came to boys and experimenting.

Noel had even suggested a three some, which if she didn't recall incorrectly was the reason for their first fight in college.

"I need to break up with Noel"

* * *

"So what happened? You went over there, told her you loved her, she said thank you and Toby punched you?"

Ezra said, trying not to laugh at how absurd this whole thing sounded, Wren sighed as he drank some beer at the grill and nodded.

"She said thank you, not I love you too or I've been waiting to hear that my whole life but thank you. Then he came in and punched me" He touched his jaw and winced at the pain "You know what I realised throughout the ordeal, I realised that I don't even love her. I was just in love with the idea of her"

Now he laughed, unable to resist it "You didn't even love her and you went through all that" He chuckled.

"Set me up with someone" Wren asked, no, begged.

"No, I'm not going to set you up with anyone." Ezra said, rolling his eyes "No offense but you're a mess, the last thing I need to do is lose friends because of you"

"You know saying no offense before something offensive doesn't make it any less offensive" Wren said "So how's your love life? If it's better than mine, I hate you"

"My love life's also a mess, I thought just maybe I might have something with Aria but it turns out that never going to happen" He said, cynically as he drank the beer.

"Why?"

"Well, for starters she has a boyfriend, I'm six years older than her, I was her teacher and the last thing she needs is someone to tie her down" He mumbled and ordered another beer, giving up on the hope he once had about having a relationship with the woman whom he surprisingly enough had fallen head over heels over.

* * *

**So Ella knows, do you guys think she gave him her blessing or was just warning him? Anyways i hope you guys liked this chapter also the other girls might find out about the love duo soon, i just want to know how you feel about that;)**

**xoxo Josie**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry about the late update!**

* * *

The next two weeks passed in a blur, Ezra tried to stay as far away from Aria as possible, the only he could get over her was if he didn't see her or so he hoped. Ella words really took a toll on him, they made him realise how big of an idiot he was thinking that he had a chance with her.

Dinner at the Montgomery's was somewhat awkward well between Aria and Ezra it was, she was angry, understandably. He never answered her calls, barely said hello and it was almost as if he was ignoring her making her wonder if she had done something wrong.

Ella watched the two young adults and shook her head at the thought of the two of them being together, there was no way in hell, perhaps that was just a friendly hug she saw though she could have sworn it seemed like more.

Soon enough dinner was over, much to their relief. Before they both left separately, Byron stopped to talk to Ezra whilst Aria was speaking to her mother.

"I just to let you know again about how grateful I am about you offering me the Hollis position" Ezra said with a smile, his hands tucked into his pockets.

Byron returned the smile "You're perfect for the job, Ezra; there's no need to thank me. Maybe you'll also consider the position of associate dean in Hollis' satellite school." He said to which Ezra awkwardly nodded.

Aria walked along with her mother, now and then, she could sneak a glance over her shoulder to where Ezra was standing. He was never looking over, he barely smiled at her and ignored eye contact throughout dinner frustrating her ever so slightly.

"I'm going to go, mom, I have a ton of homework, I need to get done" She mumbled, her mother simply nodded and she kissed her mother's cheek before leaving

Quickly, she left the house and decided that she wouldn't come to any more dinners for a little while now; she could see her parents any other day. Friday was when he would come over; she couldn't possibly understand why he wouldn't talk to her.

She walked down the street and crossed her arms trying to warm herself as she felt a cold air of rough wind; she groaned wondering why she had decided to wear a skirt when all of a sudden his car went past, for a second she stopped walking and watched him in the car, he looked at her and then continued driving.

_Asshole _

Aria thought as she walked further down and then noticed his car, stopping. The door opened and a small smile made way onto her face, she quickly walked towards the car and got in.

"Where— um where do you want me to take you?" He asked, she watched him curiously wondering why he spoke so nervously.

"To my apartment, it's just behind Fisher's market" She said, he nodded and began driving. Every now and then he would look over to her, and she would do the same.

She turned the radio on wanting to fix the awkward silence but to no avail, the song that played contained memories for the both of them.

_Happiness feels a lot like sorrow_

He shifted uncomfortably and drove slightly faster, she took this opportunity to say something knowing if she didn't she wouldn't be able to do anything.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked, suddenly. He looked at her furrowing his eyebrows in confusion "You've been avoiding me, you don't even look at me, and you haven't answered any of my calls"

Ezra sighed, he turned the car "You haven't done anything wrong, Aria, if anyone has, it's me— it's my fault."

"What's your fault?" She questioned as she saw him park the car, she turned to face him.

"The reason I stopped talking to you is because—," He stopped himself "I was just busy, you know with Hollis and all. I'm sorry."

Aria narrowed her eyes "Doesn't explain why you ignored me and would cross the road anytime you saw me" she said, bluntly.

He didn't respond, they both looked ahead at the road. She rolled her eyes whilst Ezra felt trapped. He had the opportunity to tell her but he couldn't possibly, not while she was still with Noel.

Maybe he wasn't her type, after all the boy she was dating was a cocky frat boy and he was a man who'd rather stay in and watch movies in his apartment which he doubted she wanted to do. She was nineteen and needed someone her age, not someone who was older than her by many years.

Soon enough they were at her apartment, she quickly mumbled a thanks and left the car leaving Ezra alone in the car, groaning.

* * *

Hanna painted her nails in the sitting room as Aria rushed in, angrily. She furrowed her neatly done eyebrows in confusion.

"What's up?" She asked whilst trying to focus on her nails.

"Men is what's up, have I ever mentioned how much I hate them?

Aria asked, throwing her bag onto the couch. She paced back and forth with her hands on her hips, angrily. She hated him for making her feel this way about him, she hated him for lying about why he wouldn't talk to her.

"Jesus, what did Noel do this time?" Hanna asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. She watched her best friend.

_Noel_

His name was now etched in her head; she mumbled something unintelligible leaving Hanna bewildered once again as she entered her bedroom.

* * *

The next morning, she left the apartment early. The night before had been spent with her feeling guilty about Noel 60% of the time and thinking about Ezra 40% of the time. Her attraction to the older man was wrong, especially since she was with someone else.

After spending hours just simply around driving around town thinking about how conflicted she was feeling about the man whom she had been with since High school and the older man with whom she had an uncontrollable attraction to.

She knocked on the door of Noel's apartment; soon enough, the door opened revealing Sean yawning. He mumbled a hello and then let her in. Aria walked towards Noel's room, she watched him, surprisingly enough he was awake.

"We need to talk" Aria said, simply. He sat up, narrowing his eyes in confusion. She placed her bag on the desk "I can't do this anymore. This is—has been long coming; you and I both know that. I can't do this anymore"

Noel stared at her wide-eyed "Are you breaking up with me?" He asked and then let out a little laugh when she nodded "This isn't over" He said, simply and stood up walking towards her.

"It is, I'm sorry, Noel—I don't, I don't love you anymore"

He shook his head, anger filling his eyes as she spoke, all of a sudden he lunged towards her grabbing her arm "This isn't over until I say it is, do you hear me?" He said, threateningly.

Her eyes widened, she looked down at his arms "Noel, you're hurting me" She said, biting her lower lip but he didn't loosen his grip. "Noel, let go of me" She said, sternly not wanting for him to see how scared she truly was.

The door opened and Sean walked in "What's all the—Noel, what the hell are you doing? Let go of her!"

Noel reluctantly did so and Aria stared at him, still shocked from how he had treated her moments "This is over" She spat out before leaving the apartment in awe of what had just happened.

* * *

**I hope you liked reading it! Next chapter will be better, i swear. Review, Favourite and Follow as usual**

**xoxo Josie**


	12. Chapter 12

Days had passed since Aria dumped Noel much to her friends' bewilderment, she barely commented on why she had, and her friend respected her privacy and didn't ask questions well—except Hanna.

Ezra was teaching at Hollis now, she saw now and then. It was her turn to ignore him, every time she saw him; she immediately remembered the conversation she had with him in the car. She had sounded so desperate; it caused her to cringe every time she saw him.

No one was more relieved than Rebecca when she had found out that Aria had broken up with the 'douche of the century' which were her words exactly.

Rebecca sat in front of Aria tapping furiously at the keyboard of her phone; it was one of their monthly sleepovers together which coincided with Friday night dinners at her parent's house.

She narrowed her eyes thinking of how she was probably the one college student who was usually at her parents' house instead of partying on a Saturday. Aria watched as Rebecca picked her ringing phone and talked to Jacob muttering an excuse of some sort.

"I—can't, I know. Yes, I know"

"What's wrong?" Aria asked, curiously.

"It's just this movie which is playing near Rosewood Park, and Jacob had this picnic planned and all but I'm here with so it doesn't matter" Rebecca answered as she placed her phone down, not very convincingly. Aria rolled her eyes.

"You should go, honestly, it's fine. I've got an essay to write anyways," She said, and got up, she searched for her bag around Rebecca's dorm room.

Hesitantly, she nodded and Aria left the dorm room, she grabbed her phone out of her back pocket and looked through the text messages.

There were from Hanna and Emily and Spencer, her mother and _Ezra. _her eyes widened as she saw his name on her screen, her heart begin to beat faster.

_Can we talk? I really need to see you – Ezra_

* * *

The days grew slower and dreary for Ezra, every moment consisted of the fact that he was too much of a coward to let the girl he liked know that he wanted to be with her. He sat in his office reading an essay a student had written and submitted a couple of days ago.

As he tried to mark, images of her filled his head, it didn't help that he saw her every day and this time it was her ignoring him and not the other way round.

She was always with this guy, his name was Jacob. He was in one of his classes, seemed decent but still the thought of Aria being with another guy infuriated him to the extent that he was considering telling her the truth.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, a student, coincidentally it was Jacob entered and smiled as he looked at his professor before taking a seat.

"Professor Fitz, I just want you to know that I put a lot of effort into this story and I think I deserve a higher grade than this"

Ezra looked at the paper the student handed him immediately remembering marking it, it was a good story but certainly not realistic in the slightest.

"Mr Goldberg, I'm not denying that. You're a good writer" He responded, kindly hoping that would be the end of it but his years of teaching told him that it wouldn't.

"Then what's the problem?"

"I guess I found it a little unbelievable" He said in a teacherly voice and saw the look on his student's face "The guy leaves his fiancée at dinner to follow a woman he barely knows" Ezra explained.

"He had to get to know her" Jacob said simply

"He was at his rehearsal dinner; he was getting married next day" replied Ezra, however the determination in his student's eye didn't leave "And he left to meet a girl who he just met"

"And you think that's realistic" He questioned

"I think it's romantic" Jacob said

"Life isn't always romantic, sometimes it's realistic. Sometimes you don't always get to be with the person you want because it's not always right"

"True love saves him from making the biggest mistake of his life" Jacob added with a smile on his face "He never truly loved this woman—his fiancée and he felt as if he had connected more with this woman whom he barely knew more than he had ever with his fiancée and so he followed her. He didn't care about the society or anyone. He had a chance at true love and wasn't scared to take it"

Jacob narrowed his eyes slightly getting the feeling that this wasn't only about his story

Ezra paused for a second as he heard what his student was saying and came to the realization that he was afraid—afraid of taking the chance of being with her. He had been burned before and was terrified of being hurt.

"—I'll give it another look" He said and the student nodded.

"I guess that's all I can ask" Jacob stood up "Thank you Mr Fitz" he said and then left the office leaving Ezra all alone with his thoughts.

He looked at his phone and sent a message hesitantly.

"_Can we talk? I really need to see you – Ezra"_

* * *

Aria walked towards his apartment building, she bit her lower lip and considered walking back to her apartment. The only thing that got her going was the thought of him actually wanting to see her, her heart skipped a beat as she thought of him.

Slowly, she stepped into the building and walked into the elevator up towards the apartment which she hadn't seen ever since she had left after her pregnancy scare a couple of weeks back

Inside the apartment, Ezra had changed out of his work attire into only a pair of pyjama bottoms. Basketball was playing on the TV screen and takeout from the night before was heating up in the microwave. He checked his phone and saw that she had not responded yet.

A knock on the door interrupted his train of thought and he walked towards the door half-expecting Ms Goldstein to show up asking for her spare key. He opened the door and to his surprise it was the one person who he had wanted to see for so long and yet had so little hope of seeing.

"Aria—"

His voice spoke, a smile formed on his face which she returned. He moved aside to let her walk in and so she did.

She walked into the apartment and looked around once more; she turned to face him with her arms crossed against her chest.

Noticing his bare torso, she bit her lower lip trying to avoid looking at his topless body. All that filled her mind was him making love to her that night and looking at her as if she were the only one who mattered to him.

Before her thoughts grew inappropriate she spoke "You said—that um you need to speak to me" She said, narrowing her eyes.

He nodded, a lump formed in his neck as he thought of what to say, he had imagined that she wouldn't come and everything he had originally planned to say fell out of her mind in a mere second.

"Yes, I did say that. I um—I know this is wildly inappropriate. You're my former student and my colleague's daughter. You have a boyfriend—"

"I don't—have a boyfriend" Aria interrupted quickly, she saw a glint in his eyes. She bit her lower lip hoping that this would go the way she had fantasyd "I broke up with Noel" she admitted.

"You did" He asked

"I did" She replied

"Why? I mean I know it's not my place to ask but—," He spoke and was once again interrupted by her, he watched as she spoke.

"I realised that I didn't love him, that I liked someone else. Someone who I really hope feels the same way about me" Aria said with a hopeful glint in her eyes.

"And who _exactly _is that someone?" Ezra asked

Aria smiled "I think you know" she admitted sheepishly.

The corners of his mouth turned upwards into a smile, he slowly walked towards her. His hands cupped her cheeks and he watched as she closed her eyes waiting for his lips to meet hers. His fingers traced the contours of her mouth and she puckered her lips almost begging for him to kiss her, already. Slowly he placed his lips towards hers.

It was the sort of kiss which was soft at first but soon she allowed his tongue entrance deepening the kiss, immediately. His hands fell from her cheeks down to her back; her hands were now placed on his neck. As his mouth down to her neck, she let out a moan.

Soon enough her legs were wrapped around his waist and he was walking towards the bed, he laid her down and his weight hovered over her careful not to press his weight on her. Ezra slid his hands under her shirt slipping her shirt over her head. He ran his hands up and down her sides until they stopped at her chest, he gently cupped and massaged her bare breasts.

"Aria"

He murmured as he placed his lips just above her chest "You're so beautiful" He said as she let out another soft moan. His hands moved lower inching towards the curve of her hips and inside her thighs slowly rubbing her thigh through her jeans

It took all she had in her to speak "Stop" She said, still breathing heavily. He did as he was told; Aria sat up straight beside him "I'm sorry" she crossed her arm across her bare chest. She grabbed her bra which he had taken off moments before and quickly put it on.

"It's okay, it's too soon." He mumbled looking at her apologetically "If anyone's sorry, it should be me. I shouldn't have just—."

"No Ezra, it's not your fault. I wanted you just as much if not more but I don't want this to be the start of whatever this is. I really want this, I want us."

"We'll do this the right way" Ezra said, agreeing with her "I—we'll try at least a bit of normalcy" He said with a smile.

"Do we start as friends?" She asked biting her lower lip "Because I just got out of a relationship, Ezra and as much as I want this, I think I just need some time without dating anyone"

"Friends it is then"

"But you're not allowed to see anyone" Aria said, quickly immediately regretting it after she heard how possessive she sounded "I mean—"

Ezra let out a little laugh "Neither are you, I don't think I would be able to take seeing you with another guy especially after _Noel" _he said, unable to conceal the disgust in his voice as he said Noel's name.

Aria giggled and he smiled, she was suddenly all aware of what nearly just happened "Wow I can't believe we almost just did that. You have no self-control whatsoever" she teased as she turned on her side facing him.

"Me" He asked shocked "Says the girl who practically jumped on me" she rolled her eyes "Are you staying the night?"

"Could I?"

He nodded "I'd love for you too, I'll grab you a shirt or something" He said and got out of bed, she admired his back as he searched through possible shirts for her.

"I like that one" She said and he handed it over to her, she held it against her body and he chuckled as he saw the shirt reached just above her knee.

"I'm guessing you don't want any pants"

He smirked and she rolled her eyes as she threw the shirt over her body. She rolled her jeans off her legs, Ezra turned to give her a little privacy despite what had happened a few seconds ago.

She folded her clothes and placed them in a little corner near the bed, she watched as he grabbed a blanket and walked towards the bed so she quickly spoke "Pillow in the middle?" Aria suggested, remembering the scene that had occurred several weeks ago, to which he grinned.

* * *

**I hope you liked it, They're finally together but at the same time they're not, at least you won't get a crazy love triangle like we do every so often in pll or so will? read on to find out. **

**xoxo Josie**


	13. Chapter 13

**SORRY about the delay so without further adieu let the reading commence!**

* * *

Aria Montgomery never liked living the quintessential lifestyle, she liked living in the moment, she liked weird clothing and doing things no one ever expects. She loved pushing boundaries and so she did time after time but none of them ever involved falling for her former English teacher.

At age fourteen she dyed streaks of her hair pink, and had also gotten a belly piercing unbeknownst to her mother. Her mother had always been all for her daughter being herself but getting a belly piercing without her knowledge at fourteen years old would have been slightly over board. Only a few people knew about the piercing, her friends and now Ezra.

It was strange, their relationship was, last night they were so close to sleeping together which to many people must not be a big deal considering that they had slept together before but there was something in her that didn't want to make sex a meaningless routine between them. It should be special so she wanted to wait.

Right now a part of her was regretting her decision to be friends for a while with him but another part, the logical part was reminding her that she hadn't been single since high school. She needed some time on her own before she threw herself into another relationship.

Letting out a yawn, she turned to her side and faced him; his hand was wrapped around her waist which seemed like a familiar position. It wasn't strange at all; she imagined staying in this position every night. The thought of it was comforting.

Subconsciously she raised her head slightly and placed a kiss on his jaw and then his cheek, it was just all too tempting. Sighing slightly, she prayed for a little strength not knowing how possibly she could survive without him anymore.

He let out a little laugh in his sleep, Aria's eyes widened and she giggled. She untangled his hand from her waist and sat up straight leaning against the head-board. She sat and thought about all that had took place in the last month.

The last month had been eventful to say the least; there wasn't much that hadn't happened. She had gotten drunk, slept with her former English teacher, had a pregnancy scare and broke up with her boyfriend, and now she had slept next to him. She needed a bit of normalcy but feared there was no such thing as normal in Rosewood.

Blowing a raspberry, she gave up with the hope of normalcy and thought about their future together. She thought of the rumours which were bound of come about since in the little town in which they lived people lived for gossip.

His eyes fluttered open and he looked at her yawning, he too then sat up leaning against the headboard.

"Good Morning" He mumbled, wearily.

"Morning" She replied with a smile which instantly brightened his day, he took all he had in him to return the smile.

Safe to say he wasn't a morning person, he was the type of person who would rather sleep in then wake up early whereas Aria was always up bright and early for some reason. Sure there were days when she could sleep in but that was a rarity, considering how long she took to get ready, it was a good thing that she woke up so early.

"You laugh in your sleep" Aria said, smirking slight as if she had uncovered a huge secret. Ezra groaned as he buried his head in face "It's cute" She said, without realising "I mean it's better than snoring"

He nodded with a smile on his face and then she placed her head on his shoulder, to which he leant down and kissed her shoulder, it was safe to say the _whole_ friend's thing was not going to work for long. Suddenly she realised she wasn't aware about much of his personal life.

"When was the life time you were in a serious relationship?" She asked, curiously. He sighed slightly as he remembered all of his previous failed relationships.

"Define serious"

"Living together, thinking of marriage, wanting to get a cat" Aria offered an explanation, she removed her head from his shoulder and want in a legs crossed position on the bed looking at him eagerly.

"A year ago" He began "Her name was Jackie; we were engaged, we weren't very public but you must see her around. She teaches at Hollis in the psychology department"

"She still teaches there, huh?" She mumbled absent-mindedly as she played with her hands, Ezra nodded and then spoke.

"I don't love her anymore; I don't think I ever did. I mean I felt love for her, but I wasn't in love with her" Ezra quickly explained, she smiled softly "Plus she didn't like pets, there was no way in hell I was going to marry her"

Aria gasped dramatically and moved her hand to her heart "Oh the horror! Who is this woman?" She said and he laughed "You should get a cat and a dog" She said, smiling brightly.

"A cat and a dog? Yeah that's just what I'll do" He said, She ignored his sarcastic comment.

"C'mon Ezra, you could name the cat Darcy and the dog—well we'll think about that"

"No"

"Please"

"No"

Aria pouted to which Ezra laughed once again "You made me sad" She said, rather adorably "Now I'm going to have a shower, goodbye"

Aria pouted to which Ezra laughed once again "You made me sad" She said, rather adorably "Now I'm going to have a shower, goodbye" He watched as she left and walked off to the shower. He wondered how long it would be until he could hold her in his arms and call her his, he got out of bed and quickly remembered he had a meeting in two hours. Sighing, he walked towards the bathroom and knocked.

"Aria? Do you mind if I come in, I promise I won't look" He said, and heard her laugh and reply it was fine. Soon enough he had entered the bathroom and walked towards the sink brushing his teeth and washing his face before quickly leaving.

He quickly got dressed for work which was just jeans and a shirt, he heard the shower turn off and then saw Aria walk out only in her bra and thong. He wondered if she was trying to make this hard on him.

She opened his wardrobe and he watched her curiously as she grabbed a white t-shirt which she quickly threw on and rolled her jeans up her legs before tucking his shirt into her jeans. Aria observed herself in the mirror beside his wardrobe and grabbed her make bag.

As she applied the make-up, she saw him stare.

"What?"

"I don't know why you put all of that on" He said, pointing to her makeup stash on his table

"To make me look pretty" Aria said as she applied blush, she looked at him

"I don't see why you need it, you're gorgeous without it" He mumbled as he put on a pair of socks, Aria held in a smile. He clearly thought she hadn't heard him.

"I have a meeting in an hour and a half, do you want to get something to eat?" He asked and she nodded.

"Food sounds amazing"

* * *

Soon enough they had left the apartment and walked towards the brew, talking and laughing unaware of the attention they were attracting from someone in particular, Hanna Marin.

"Aria" She yelled from across the street, Aria turned and saw her best friend walking towards her "Mr Fitz" Hanna smiled at him "How are you doing?"

"I've been good, what about you, Ms Marin?" He asked, politely.

"Me too, college is so much better than high school." She said cheerfully "You guys going somewhere"

"No—er we just bumped into each other" Aria said quickly, Ezra nodded slightly "Why?"

"Well because there's a sale on at the diva dish so c'mon let's go" Hanna said and grabbed Aria's arm who mouthed an apology to Ezra. He tried not to look too disappointed and walked towards the brew with Aria on his mind.

* * *

**Hope you guys enjoyed it, REVIEW and i shall post the next chapter hopefully soon. **

**xoxo Josie**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hope you all like it! :)**

* * *

It's never easy being just friends with the guy you have fallen madly and deeply for and Aria, at the mere age of twenty, was widely aware of that after all she had fallen for Ezra Fitz.

After the incident at his apartment that almost led to them sleeping together once again, they had begun a friendship, one which entailed her going college early every single day with a cup of coffee specifically for him however on many occasions, she had been forced to give it to Rebecca because she didn't exactly want to reveal who the second cup was for.

They had seen each other on a daily basis, Aria often went over to his apartment and they watched B&W movies whilst eating takeout. He also dropped her home on several occasions using the excuse of the 'terrible weather' if anyone ever saw them. It was hard being together and keeping it strictly friendly, he understood she needed time alone without the complications of a relationship.

Annoyingly enough that wasn't the only obstacle in their way; they couldn't have anyone knowing about what was going on between the two of them especially not her father. Emily knew but it had been so long since Aria even discussed what had happened between the two of them that she doubted Emily even bothered thinking about the two of them.

The day after Aria had stayed over at Ezra's and when she bumped into Hanna even the somewhat ditzy blonde questioned the nature of their relationship.

"_So you and Fitz seemed cozy" Hanna said as she rummaged through the racks of Macy's, she took out a dress and held it against herself and then Aria before eventually deciding against it putting it back on the rack. _

"_Cozy?" Aria let out a fake laugh "Well we're friends, ever since we've graduated; he's come over to dinner a lot. We have a lot in common" _

"_Have you ever wondered why he comes over a lot? Especially after you graduated" Hanna asked, with a smirk on her face as she faced Aria. _

"_What are you insinuating?" Aria asked, rolling her eyes. _

"_That Mr hot stuff has the hots for you which seeing how hot he is, I would jump his bones before anyone else does. Imagine how good he'd be in bed" _

_Aria's eyes widened, she bit her lower lip trying not to reveal anything and then shook her head "Sorry I didn't get any of that, I was just trying to count how many times you said hot in that sentence" Aria said changing the subject._

Rebecca walked along side Aria as they stepped into Hollis library; she blew a raspberry, bored, as Aria began searching for books.

"You know I never understood why people like reading so much" She said "Just wait for the movie, seriously, patience will take you a long way—with images"

Aria rolled her eyes; she looked at Rebecca in disbelief for a minute. She couldn't believe that she was friends with a book hater.

"I'm not even going to respond to that, also, this is for Psych, not just pleasure reading." Aria said as she grabbed a book.

"Pleasure reading? Like that's a thing" Rebecca said, with a laugh "So I was talking to Jake and he said that he has this friend—Calum or Colin, something along those lines and he wants to basically set you and him up."

Before Rebecca had even finished her sentence, Aria shook her head "Nope" She said, popping the 'P'

"Come on, Aria." She elongated her name "Please, for me, I really want to go on a double date"

"Find someone else, Bec, I haven't been single since High school, I just want to be on my own for a little while before I even think about dating someone else"

* * *

Ezra stood in the kitchen part of his apartment after spending hours marking essays which hadn't been written as well as he had hoped for English Lit majors to write. Aria was coming over in a couple of minutes so he considered cooking something but ended up deciding on take-outs perhaps a pizza or something.

It had been nearly two weeks since Aria and he decided on being just friends which had been surprisingly easy well except for the part of him not being allowed to kiss her or hold her because that was apparently what friends didn't do.

Seeing her every single day brightened his day, it bought a smile to his face and made him think of the future in a pleasant way.

The door knocked and he quickly opened it to Aria holding a couple of books, she hugged him with the books being in the middle and then placed them on the counter as she walked in. "College assignments are the worst aren't they?" She said, he let out a little laugh.

"Yes, they certainly are. How has your day been?" He asked.

"It's been well—interesting. Rebecca is trying to force me on a date with Colin or Callum or someone." She said with a dramatic sigh.

His facial expression dropped for a second "You know you can date people, I mean if you want. You should" He said as he took a seat on the table in the kitchen opposite her.

"Why would I want to do that?" She bit her lower lip as she placed her hand over his "When I have you"

They both shared a smile "So what are we eating? Pizza or Chinese?" He said as he passed her the leaflets.

"Chinese" She said with an excited smile which made him chuckle.

* * *

As Aria awaited Ezra's arrival, she grew bored and so she decided to clean up a bit. Considering the fact this was a small apartment, it was incredibly messy. She grabbed the brochures and placed them on the desk where she noticed something addressed to him.

"_Dear Ezra Fitz, this is a confirmation of your impending position of an associate dean in Hollis' satellite school" _

Her eyes widened as she saw the letter, the letter said that he would be required to be in New Orleans in only a couple of weeks. She couldn't believe he hadn't told her, was that how it was going to be? One day she would just wake up and he'd be gone.

The door opened and Ezra's smile vanished as he saw Aria holding the letter, he placed the takeout on the counter and walked towards her.

"Were you planning on telling me or were you just going to sleep with me and then just leave? Am I just a big last challenge for you before you leave Rosewood?" She questioned.

His eyes widened "No, no, no of course not. Aria, I really like you and you know that" He said, walking to her.

"Do I? I mean you spent a good couple of weeks ignoring me after sleeping with me and now for some reason you're willing to simply be friends for a while. I should have known no man is that patient"

"Aria" He said softly "You know how I feel about you"

"I think I made a mistake in coming here" She said, coolly.

"I don't think you did" He responded.

"Well I did" Aria said, firmly as she pushed past him grabbing her bag "Good bye Ezra"

* * *

**Hope you all enjoyed reading and if you did, let me know in the reviews below. **

**xoxo Josie**


	15. Chapter 15

**This chapter may seem slightly confusing, its basically a few days after Aria and Ezra spoke. The night before this chapter is set, Aria went out with her friends, drank too much and suffered a fragmentary blackout.**

* * *

"I am never doing that again"

Was a phrase used by many but rarely ever applied to a situation, these words were often used after a boozy night or a one night stand with a douche, in fact it was used so often by college students it might as well be synonymous for:_ I'm so doing that again but just not now_ .

Aria so happened to utter these words the minute she woke up thankfully it wasn't the latter that had occurred but instead she had gotten drunk off her mind or so she thought at the moment.

As her eyes flickered open she could already feel a pounding ache in her head because of which she let out a groan. Her room was a mess much to her bewilderment, she always kept her room pristinely clean which was very Spencer of her but she enjoyed entering a tidy room, it made her somewhat happier.

On her side, the sheets were ruffled and it had seemed as if someone had previously lain there. Aria, unlike most people, kept to one side and didn't sleep in the middle. She shook her head as she considered the possibility of someone having laid there which she instantly regretted as it made her headache even worse which was something she certainly didn't need at the moment.

She laid back on her back rubbing her eyes, the clock on the wall told her it was 6am thankfully her first class wasn't until 10 however Aria was one to immediately fall back to sleep unlike Hanna who could sleep anywhere and everywhere which included the subway, the car and of course the library.

"Early bird gets the worm" Aria muttered as she got out of bed, from the corner of her eye she could see a crumpled paper. Leaning down she picked it up and straightened it. It was clearly Hanna's writing as it was barely readable.

**_Getting over douches in FIVE STEPS_**

_Shopping spree (well duh) with your bestest friend (Hanna Marin)_

_A makeover _

_Movie with either of the Goslings_

_Dancing to Beyoncé at P3! _ (_Hanna'll_ _**Hanna will** teach you the moves)_

_Drink to your heart's desire. _

She let out a small laugh as she saw Spencer's correction on the sheet but then it hit her she didn't remember any of the night before; she didn't even remember reading this piece of paper. Drinking excessively did that to a person and especially to her as she was, Ali had called her on several occasions, a lightweight which was why she didn't drink.

After she freshened up in the bathroom, she left her room.

Walking out of her room she saw all three of her best friends alongside their respective others eating breakfast, they all looked at her with smirks that gave her anxiety.

"There she is, the self-proclaimed stripper" Caleb said, a laugh escaping his mouth. Hanna too giggled however the others tried to hold their laughter in. Emily sent a warning look to him making gulp slightly and passed a bagel his way which he happily ate.

Eyes widened, she looked at them "What?" Asked Aria somewhat afraid of the answer actually she was completely afraid of the answer.

Since nobody spoke, Paige took the honors "Well—um last night at P3 you got drunk, claimed college was too hard and then you said that you were going to be a stripper."

"You also took your top off and danced around in your bra on the bar much to the delight of anyone with a penis—" Caleb said and motioned towards Emily "Or with boobs basically everyone"

"Why did no one stop me?" She asked pronouncing every single syllable "Was there anyone we knew there"

"We tried, Aria, we honestly did but you quoted Emily Dickinson by saying _the heart wants what it wants"_ At that point, Spencer could no longer hold her laughter in.

* * *

About a couple of minutes later, Hanna and Caleb had left as he was driving her to college, Emily and Paige also headed off. The only people remaining in the apartment were Spencer, Aria and Toby.

"You're not joining me, are you?" Spencer asked as she looked at her boyfriend as Aria painted her toe nails red, the effects of the hangover had gone had gone thanks Spencer giving her milk thistle tablets which she had sworn by and now Aria knew why.

"No sorry babe but I have to get to work in twenty minutes" He said, apologetically to which she gave him a small smile and placed a kiss on his lips mumbling it was okay.

Suddenly feeling very motivated Aria spoke "I'll join you" She placed her nail polish on the table as she looked at Spencer with a smile.

Spencer looked at her in disbelief "I'm going jogging, Aria, Jogging" She repeated as if Aria didn't understand the concept of the sport which Aria had once claimed was the devils work. The 5'2 brunette nodded.

"I know and I'll join you, give me a second" She said before sprinting off to her room, Toby chuckled as he looked at Spencer.

"She hasn't run a day in her life without complaining and now she wants to join me for a jog, pinch me, I think I'm dreaming"

Moments later, Aria stepped out in a pair of grey leggings and a black tank top which stated 'This T-shirt makes me up run faster'

"C'mon Spence, let's get our run on" She said with a grin

* * *

Only twenty minutes had passed and Aria already felt as if she was going to pass out any second now but Spencer continued to regularly fasten her pace. The night before was still a blur in her head and she knew if she wanted to know anything, she might as well ask now.

Taking deep breaths in and out she caught up to Spencer in pursuit of gathering information about the night before.

"Hey Spence" She said, breathing heavily "I can't remember anything from last night. I don't know why but yesterday is a complete blur to me"

Spencer nodded "You probably blacked out, there's two types of blackouts: Fragmentary and En Bloc. Fragmentary is not being able to remember things for a short period of time however the latter is not being able to remember for a long period of time. It's common for people—especially college students to suffer these due to the amount of alcohol they consume but you barely drink, it's not very likely for you to be suffering a fragmentary black out but then again, it's not impossible" She spoke as if she were teaching a class.

Aria's eyes widened, it was bad enough she had to catch up to Spencer who was running like she was trying to win a marathon but now she had to process all this information.

"I—I just wanted to know what happened yesterday and see if it will jog my memory, I didn't need to know the textbook example of Fragmentary and En Bloc"

The preppy brunette smiled sheepishly "Right—well you woke up yesterday and for some reason you wanted to go to P3 for a girls night out. Hanna got us in—The guys ended coming too but before that happened you and Hanna created that list on how to get over Noel. You went shopping; Hanna taught you some moves and then we went out to the Philly. You got drunk—Hanna and Caleb got too close for my liking then you kind of disappeared. You called us saying you were at home."

Aria nodded as she processed the information, images of the night before suddenly became less blurry then she realised her friends hopefully including Emily thought she was heartbroken on Noel which was good, she supposed, Emily hadn't a clue about her overwhelming feelings for Ezra otherwise she would have blabbed to her friends.

"I think you should stop" Spencer said "You look like you're about to pass out. Here sit" She said as she passed a bench "I'll go get you some water." She said and with that she was gone.

Ezra walked down the streets of Rosewood to get to Hollis, his first class was in an hour and he thought he might as well get going now, it beat being hung over Aria. It seemed as he couldn't get her out of her mouth. His eyes widened as he saw her on the bench, it was just his luck.

She didn't want to talk to him but something in him couldn't just walk past her without asking her how she was so he spoke, nervously of course.

"Hey Aria, are you okay?" He noticed her heavy breathing and tired expression, she looked at him sighing slightly as he walked closer.

"Why?" She was skeptical of his sudden concern for her after all he had planned on having a fling with her and leaving without a word just a couple of days ago.

"You just seem like you've had a rough night" He gulped as he heard her harsh tone which broke his already broken heart a little more.

"I'm fine, Ezra, you don't need to pretend like you care." She glared at him as he spoke, she couldn't help it. Angry was an understatement for how she was feeling.

"Aria—"

No, Ezra, can you please just leave me alone" She said before walking off.

* * *

After her classes, Aria felt a sudden urge to change the way she looked thinking that it might help the way she felt. A haircut seemed about right. Rebecca nodded and walked her to the closest boutique which she went to.

"I'm thinking a lighter tone, maybe throw some highlights in there and get rid of all this hair." The Hairdresser said as he held her hair, Aria nodded hoping she wouldn't look too awful once she was done.

She was right, Aria looked at herself in the mirror of her room hours after the haircut, she did feel different. She was going to the movies with Emily to watch a new Ryan Reynolds movie so she opened her closet seeing all the new clothes she had bought the day before.

Throwing on a pair of dark studded jeans along a blue top which had white skulls on it, she stood in front of the mirror styling her newly cut short hair in loose curls. As always she applied minimal makeup before heading out of her room.

"Wow look at you, you look like a whole new person" Hanna said, grinning as she briefly stopped typing on the laptop.

"Well thank you" Aria said as she did a little twirl "Are you sure you don't want to come out with us?"

"Yeah, pretty sure, I have to finish this." She said, motioning to her laptop, sadly

"See you later"

* * *

Emily and Aria walked out of the theater together after they had seen the movie right about now they were giggling about how awful it had been but despite that they both still agreed Ryan Reynolds was one beautiful man.

"Hanna, to this day, doesn't believe me when I say Ryan Reynolds is my male crush" Emily said, rolling her eyes "Just because I'm gay she thinks I can't appreciate the beauty of the opposite sex"

"Well that's Hanna for you." Aria said, with a giggle "You and Paige seem to be closer, I recall you telling you two have fought a lot."

Emily nodded "That's what couples do, they fight. I'd be worried if we didn't fight. I love her so much, Aria, Mom does too. She invited her over to dinner which is a big deal."

"Yeah it is, don't worry though Paige will charm the pants off her." Aria said with a smile.

"What about you? It must be tough considering you and Noel had been together since High school and now you're broken up"

Aria didn't respond, she felt guilty lying about feeling heartbroken about him when she clearly didn't so she remained silent.

"Or are you hung over Mr Fitz"

"Wha—what?" Her voice cracked, she looked at Emily in disbelief and then nodded "The truth is Ezra and I, we were kind of a thing. We were friends, it's been nearly over a month since I've slept with him. I really lov—liked him."

Emily's eyes widened "Were you about to say love?" She questioned.

"No no no no" Aria repeated

"That's way too many no's Aria, oh my god, you love him"

* * *

After what had felt like an extremely long day Aria felt backwards onto her bed, she didn't even bother changing and simply closed her eyes as she tried to sleep but to no avail when she closed her eyes the image of him would be there.

"_Ezra—it's me Aria. Pick me up, I'm at P3." She slurred "Please" _

The morning after she awoke with her voice repeating in her head, she remembered instantly what had happened the night before. He had picked her up from the club and dropped her off here.

Quickly she had a shower and throw on anything she could before instinctively driving to Hollis. She rushed into his office. The halls were empty probably due to fact it was early in the morning but her gut told her he was here so she walked into his office. Sure enough he was seated on his chair marking papers.

"It was you"

* * *

**Hope you all like it! **

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	16. Chapter 16

Love was a strange thing, at best it was the cause of inexplicable joy and at worst it led to an eternity of heart ache. It caused you do things you wouldn't normally do, be a person you wouldn't ever have thought you'd be and say things you almost never would have said before.

Aria was pretty sure she had fallen in love with the man she was crying over in bed, it was strange to think she loved a man who she had only viewed a friend for a short time but love didn't need time or knowledge, it just happened much.

She was conflicted, her heart loved the man but her brain told her not to love him. He had caused her pain. He had lied to her, now if that had been someone else she wouldn't give them a second thought but the feelings for him were too deep just to ignore him.

These feelings were probably the reason she had left her apartment so early in the morning in pursuit of the man whom she had called during her drunken state. Now here she stood in front of him in his office. He was marking papers whilst she was looking at him.

"Why did you come last night? When I called you? You didn't have to come. I was so horrible to you." Aria said.

Ezra looked at her almost as if he was pondering what he could say. A part of her—the logical part wondered whether he was thinking of another lie however her heart told her otherwise. She loved him though she wasn't willing to say it loud and she hoped he felt similarly towards her though she doubted it.

"I came because I care about you" He said and then stood up walking towards her "I know what you think, you think that all I wanted was just a meaningless fling but it's not true, ever since I saw that day in the bar. The very first time, when we first kissed, I saw you in a whole new light." She smiled softly.

"I did too" Aria began "I mean—of course, I had the biggest crush on you during high school but I never felt as I do now about you." Suddenly she felt a burst of anger rush through "Why didn't you tell me?" She said as she punched his chest slightly.

"I was scared—I was scared that you'd react the way you. I though you would just leave. I was being selfish. All I wanted was _you, _All I want is you"

Salty warmth of tears filled her eyes slowly escaping; she raised her head to her cheek and gently wiped them away. "Forgive me" He spoke, softly. She shook her head, stubbornly. He moved closer to her, their lips were mere inches apart from each other.

"Forgive me" Ezra murmured, his lips were close to her neck tempting him ever so slightly but he didn't want to unless he knew he was forgiven. She had turned facing away from him, she clenched her eyes tightly.

All thoughts of right and wrong, of self-control, of betrayal disappeared as she turned to face him. He looked into her doe like hazel eyes and she looked into his blue eyes which seemed bluer every time she gazed into him. Leaning forward, she crashed her lips into his desperately longing for his touch. He was surprised but wanted it just as much.

His hands were placed on her neck tangling the baby hairs at the nape of her neck and hers were placed gently on his chest. The excitement of the close proximity of him caused a tingle to rush through to her body.

Her hand slid up to her neck loosening his tie causing both sides to drape down his chest. In an attempt to unbutton his shirt, she briefly pulled away.

"Too many clothes" She mumbled, breathlessly. He let out a little laugh as he helped her, his shirt fell to the floor. His hands lowered down to her thighs teasingly brushing along her inner thigh enjoying her little moans.

In a swift motion he picked her up and turned around placing her on the desk, she wrapped her legs around his waist and started placing soft kisses along his neck and down his chest. Nervously, her hands fumbled with the buckle of his belt before she finally undid it. Soon enough he was only in his boxers and shoes.

Giggling as she saw him quickly remove his shoes and socks, he then leant in and chastely placed a kiss on her lips which soon became not very chaste. He slowly sucked on her lower lip causing her to moan, she soon parted her lips wider allowing him entrance. Their tongues battled for dominance as the kisses grew deeper and deeper with passion.

For a second he stopped and watched her, her eyes were full of desire and lust. As much as he wanted to do this, he couldn't not without knowing that she wanted it too.

"Make love to me"

She whispered huskily, it was no longer 'fuck' nor was it 'sleep' she wanted this not just now but in the long term and that was all he needed. He nodded eagerly; he unzipped her dress and slid it down her arms and legs.

He watched her sitting on his desk, her legs spread and a teasing smile on her face. She was wearing a black lace bra despite not knowing the effect lace had on him; his hands traced circles on her lower back before they ran up unhooking her bra. She took it off and threw it beside her.

Once again, he placed his mouth on his. This time it was more frantic and lustful. His right hand found one of her breast squeezing it ever so slightly as his left remained on her waist keeping her balance.

For a mere second he stopped and looked at the desk pushing all the things off the desk, she bit her lower lip as she placed her hand on his abdomen tugging on the band of his boxers slowly moving her hand inside his boxers feeling his erection. She wrapped her hand around his penis beginning to stroke, he groaned her name. He too tugged on her panties before gently sliding them down her knees; she removed her hand and pulled towards her feeling his erection.

He laid her down on the desk, it wasn't the most ideal setting but neither of them cared in the moment. He dipped a finger inside her; she arched her back upwards pressing her body against his. She bit her lower lip trying to avoid moaning considering the surroundings. He pressed his finger against her clitoris and put another finger in stroking her slightly.

Unable to hold it in any longer she moaned as his fingers danced inside her making him want nothing more than to slide into her then and there but he didn't instead he continued to finger her. Her hands moved to his hair tugging it slightly letting him know she was getting impatient.

"I don't have a condom" He said, his eyes widened.

"Birth control" She said, breathlessly wanting him to continue. She sat up gazing into his eyes nodding slightly as she saw his eyes begging for approval.

And so he did, gently he pushed her legs further apart and lined his hips against hers. Gently he moved inside her, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he began to move faster. Her moans grew louder; she placed kisses on his neck.

The only sound that could be heard was that of the two lovers making love.

She pushed her hips against his as the slow movements grew faster; she threw her head back as she felt her climax coming. Ezra sensing it was soon began thrusting even faster, soon enough.

"Ezra" murmured Aria as she tugged on the little hairs on the back of his neck, her body writhes under his in passion, she felt him fill her entirely and soon enough she too reached orgasm. Breathing heavily, he falls beside her.

Both of them try to slower their heart pace by breathing in and out, his hand was placed on her waist as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"You've no idea how long I wanted you to do that" She spoke, tiredly.

"Likewise" He responded, placing a kiss on her forehead "Aria?" She hummed as she closed her eyes causing him to speak once more.

"I'm sorry"

"You've said that already, I've forgiven you, Ezra" She said as she sat up on the desk, he too sat up.

"I know, I just really want you to that I'm sorry, I thought of hurting you—"She silenced him with a kiss.

"It doesn't matter, Ezra, it's all in the past. Let's focus on now and not worry about the past or the future. Let's focus on us"

He nodded.

* * *

Half an hour later, Aria left his office with a small smile on her face. She bites her lower lip as she thinks of what they did in his office. She couldn't imagine what her friends would say if they knew what had happened not that they ever would. She'd never tell them especially Emily.

Jacob walks down the halls of Hollis smiling as he sees her, he catches up to her and narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. "Why are you so happy?" He questioned.

Biting her lower lip, she thinks of a response when she can't, she simply responds with a shrug. As he turns a corner and says a goodbye, she mumbles to herself.

"Ezra Fitz"

* * *

**So yeah, this is the first time i've attempted to write a sex scene so it's probably the worst thing ever and for that i apologize. Please review and make me feel less horrible;D haha. Anyways please do review. **

**xoxo josie**


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